Abstract

The fundamental question of the project is "What is Nietzsche's evaluation of political action?" I argue that he does not simply affirm or reject political activity, but instead evaluates it based on how it can serve life, how it can serve the project of value creation and individual greatness of spiritual elites. In some circumstances, political action can aid in this process and should therefore be pursued; in others, it is an obstruction and should be shunned. Therefore, contrary to some interpretations, I argue Nietzsche's evaluation of politics is complex---he is not simply antipolitical or an advocate of a particular political arrangement. ;The first chapter introduces the argument, and integrates Nietzsche's understanding of politics into his wider project. It also examines other scholarly views and deals with thorny interpretive questions . The second chapter reconstructs Nietzsche's evaluative framework of advantage and disadvantage by examining two works in which he uses the framework prominently, The Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life and On the Genealogy of Morals. Chapters three through six apply this framework to and different political circumstances. In chapter three, I examine the disadvantages of politics for life in eras dominated by the herd, a circumstance frequently studied in scholarship on Nietzsche's politics. Chapter four looks at the other side of the coin---the advantages of politics in eras dominated by the weak. Contrary to some views, I argue that there is a particular form of political action which is appropriate in such times. Chapter five looks at the advantages of political activity in times dominated by the strong. In his evaluations of figures like Alcibiades and Julius Caesar, Nietzsche offers an unorthodox aesthetic view of good political action. Chapter six examines the disadvantages of political action when the strong dominate by studying figures such as Napoleon who betray their greatness and come to see politics as an end in itself. Finally, chapter seven asks what we can learn about political activity from Nietzsche, and how his teaching compares with other political philosophers