Spiritualized drives : toward a psychology of the will to power

Abstract

This thesis argues for a view of spiritualization as the chief developmental process of the will to power in Nietzsche's late psychology from Beyond Good and Evil (BGE) onwards. To this end, a general framework of Nietzsche’s late psychology is provided followed by a study of its elements. His notion of spirit in BGE is examined in close dialogue with his view of thought as “a relation between these drives.” Following this account, spiritualization is defined as the process by means of which drives are configured (coordinated) and ramified (differentiated) as a consequence of their interaction. I contend that spiritualization acts as a type of feedback mechanism, in which the thinking that arises from the interaction among the drives retroacts on them, increasing their complexity by way of their coordination and the introduction of variants into their objects and expression. The psychology of the philosopher is surveyed in light of the general framework of Nietzsche’s late psychology and the process of spiritualization. The primary aim of this work is to present a convincing case for an appraisal of spiritualization as the main element of Nietzsche's psychology of the philosopher.