Constructing Nietzsche's Politics

Ethical Libertarianism

Andrew Duclos

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2025
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798881866693
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

A timely new interpretation of Nietzsche's politics which reconciles the apparent contradictions in Nietzsche's texts by defining his politics as "ethical libertarianism."

Nietzsche's politics has been the subject of much debate, with the existing scholarship largely divided between aristocratic and anti-democratic readings on the one hand, and democratic readings on the other. This book takes its place in the emerging trend of trying to find a "third way" by arguing that Nietzsche's philosophy implies a form of libertarianism. This interpretation emphasizes individual self-transformation and the need to organize society in a way which best facilitates this for its members. While libertarianism is closest to Nietzsche's requirements, it needs to be reformulated to be made fully consistent with his philosophy. This requires a rejection of any grounding of the natural rights of the individual, presumed to be equal for all, in a metaphysical conception of the self. A Nietzschean "ethical libertarianism" would be based on protecting equal access of individuals to conditions which promote self-cultivation. It is thus democratic, but also meritocratic, as rights will be seen to accrue on the basis of individual development.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Part I: Nietzsche’s Ontology
• Chapter 1: Nietzsche’s Concept of the Self
• Chapter 2: One’s Relation to the Self
• Chapter 3: Becoming and Will to Power
• Chapter 4: Reinterpreting the Will to Power, Becoming, and Nietzsche’s Ontology
• Part II: Nietzsche’s Ethics
• Chapter 5: The Self as Perspectival and Interpretive
• Chapter 6: The Role of Opposition and Overcoming in the Self
• Chapter 7: Eternal Recurrence and Amor Fati as Interpretive Mechanisms for Overcoming
• Chapter 8: Self-Cultivation and Life-Affirmation
• Chapter 9: Traits for Self-Cultivation
• Chapter 10: Free Spirits
• Chapter 11: The Übermensch
• Chapter 12: The Social Fabric, Culture, and the Individual
• Chapter 13: A Possibility for Anyone
• Part III: Nietzsche’s Politics
• Chapter 14: Political Aristocratism
• Chapter 15: Nietzsche contra Democracy in General
• Chapter 16: Democratic Liberalism
• Chapter 17: Democratic Conservatism
• Chapter 18: Ethical Libertarianism
• Conclusion: Life-Affirmation
• Bibliography
• Index