In reading Cavington's excellently written post below, the most striking point to me was the one that men are primarily driven by profit-and-acceptance based incentives. I would be inclined to disagree with this statement, in deference to the points first cogently espoused by Friedrich Nietzsche in his book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". Though I am not the world's biggest Nietzsche fan by any means (I'm more of a Kant kind of guy), Nietzsche's theory of the will to power is one that has made an impact on my life and (I'm sure) on the lives of others.
Basically, Nietzsche's theory rejects the earlier view (posited by Schopenhauer) that all living things are motivated by a "will to live". Nietzsche saw how many men acted in self-serving ways, by doing as Cavington describes: using society to vault ahead, exerting dominance over others to get what is desired. But the deeper Nietzsche dug, the more he found that was good: artists and musicians devoting their lives to craft that would earn them neither fortune or fame; soldiers and medics diving back into battle, hopelessly outnumbered, knowing the fight was lost but unwilling to give in. Nietzsche realized that mankind possesses a will to exert POWER over its surroundings. Power can mean many things. It could, of course, indicate corporeal or monetary power. For many, however, it comes down to intellectual power (have I perfected my craft?). For some, the will to power comes out in an inexorable drive to self-improve, because the only way a man can appear truly powerful to himself is to become as well-rounded and excellent as he can be. The man in touch with his will to power will never be satisfied, except when he is working and improving - and isn't that exactly what society should encourage?
I mention this because without my discovery of my own will to power, I would not be at American University, pecking out this blog. There was a time in my life where I felt drained of ambition and of strength, when I felt no self-drive at all. Through discovery of Nietzsche's theory, I have found new life. Where I had coasted on natural talent in music and academics, now I work every day to get better. Where I had lost self-respect, I now step forward every day knowing that not only am I a better man than I was the day before, but that measures that I myself have taken have lead to this change. I am who I want to be, and there is no better feeling in the world.
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ReplyDeleteAs far as the use of logic and reason are involved, it is correct to state that my proposed theory of motivation encompasses your theory of "self-betterment." If I'm not mistaken, sir, selfishness, that is profit-based incentive forms of motivation (i.e. what I theorize) encourages your principle of self-betterment, since said betterment makes an ivdividual's earning potential increase.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. Look at the examples cited above - is a warrior fighting a lost cause increasing his earning potential? And besides, the will to power does not presuppose that profit is the primary goal. Some elements of self-improvement, like my desire to study hard, will probably eventually increase earning potential. But what about others? I never intend to play trumpet professionally, or run professionally, but I work hard at improving my skills at both of those things. I will never make more money because I can play a double high C on my trumpet - I worked towards that because it gives me personal satisfaction that I have reached some kind of a pinnacle in my development. Likewise, every time I improve, I will feel that same joy, because the motivation comes from personal self-improvement, not personal profiting. Therefore, while earning potentials may be (in many cases) a positive side-effect of the will to power's impact on a personal, it is just that, a side-effect - the primary impact of the will to power is a self-advancement that has nothing to do with profits.
ReplyDelete"Profit" is not just capital gain... think about that.
ReplyDeleteNow, now, no need to condescend. I HAVE thought about it. I can kind of see how our trains of thought ran on similar lines on this one, and yet...First off, in your original comment, you specifically mentioned "ivdividual's (sic) earning potential increase", so of course capital gain is what you meant. My comment above clearly delineates my points as to why the will to power has nothing directly to do with capital gain. Second, yes, if you distill humanity to its very core, of course all actions are "selfish" in that they either benefit the person directly or make the person feel better about himself. But in NO way does what Nietzsche theorized about men working to find their highest self-achievement plane correlate with your words of "trans-national corporations" and "huge black markets". Some people who find their will to power will inevitably become CEOs and billionaires - but others will not, and they will be okay with that as long as they are able to pursue self-improvement. That was NOT your argument.
ReplyDeleteIn an epistemological sense, in regards to the broader practical application of the market system, it was my argument. Capitalism, when shaved down to the elements of logic and reason, conclude the natural selfishness of mankind.
ReplyDeleteBut the will to power is not capitalism. Perhaps I should include more history. Nietzsche DESPISED his own will to power theory as he was developing it, because all he could see were its capitalist and selfish implications - and Nietzsche desperately wanted to find more faith in humanity than that. It was only after Nietzsche located other manifestations of the will to power - as noted above, the soldier, the medic, the starving artist - did the will to power as presented above take shape. Of course, some practitioners of the WTP - like presidents of companies, or even philanthropists who subconsciously seek the selfish glow of giving - display capitalist characteristics. However, the will to power as presented by Nietzsche has a voice all its own precisely because it does NOT focus primarily on those practitioners, and instead celebrates those who pursue improvement for the sake of improvement just as much.
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