Abstract
In aphorism 14 of The Antichrist, Nietzsche announces that he has "changed" (umgelernt) his way of thinking about human nature and that he has "placed the human being back among (zuruckgestellt) the animals" (A 14).1 In recent scholarship, Nietzsche's views on human nature in The Antichrist 14 have been read as evidence of his adherence to a naturalistic conception of human nature that is Darwinist and largely inspired by the life sciences of the nineteenth century.2 In this chapter, I draw on Ludwig Binswanger's consideration of human nature as homo natura in Nietzsche and Freud. I will offer a reading of The Antichrist 14 that shows why Nietzsche's (and also Freud's) project of the re-naturalization of the human being does not reflect a conception of human nature that begins and ends with the natural-scientific view of nature. My thesis is that Nietzsche and Freud employ natural science to deconstruct the civilizational ideal of humanity as superior to animals and plants. Both Nietzsche and Freud, however, set aside natural science when it comes to reconstructing human nature from its place among animals and plants because natural science is unable to account for human cultural productivity.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Nietzsche and The Antichrist |
Subtitle of host publication | Religion, Politics, and Culture in Late Modernity |
Editors | Daniel Conway |
Place of Publication | New York |
Publisher | Bloomsbury |
Chapter | 10 |
Pages | 205-227 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Edition | 1 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781350016897, 9781350016903 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781350016880 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |