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Article
Nietzsche on Truth and The Will
Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications
  • Steven Michels, Sacred Heart University
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
11-1-2004
Abstract

The fundamental — and many would say lingering — challenge to Nietzsche concerns how he can ground the will to power, given what he says about metaphysics as a philosophic prejudice. Does his teaching not topple of its own weight/lessness? It is the standard objection to which all postmodern philosophers must respond. This article examines what Nietzsche says about the limits of truth and the role that experience and perspective have in setting standards by which we might live correctly. The will to power, Nietzsche instructs, is a claim on truth, confirmed only to the extent that it serves life and culture. Hence Nietzsche’s most basic doctrine appears in nature as a source of order and value, without imposing itself as such.

Comments

Open access.

Citation Information

Michels, S. (2004). Nietzsche on truth and the will. Minerva, An Internet Journal of Philosophy, 8, 34-61. Retrieved from: http://www.minerva.mic.ul.ie/vol8/index.html