The End of the Will to Power: From Aesthetics to Theology
Abstract
In a critical commentary on the final paragraph of The Will to Power (Der Wille zur Macht, ¶1067 (1885)) it is argued that Nietzsche ironically presupposes the metaphysics, and even the theology, he putatively eschews and repudiates.Nietzsche's anti-realism about aesthetics, in its broadest extension, is refuted by showing that the Apollonian is not an illusion but a fundamental presupposition of the Dionysian.Pace Nietzsche, Being (Sein) is primordial with regard to Becoming (Werden).We may ask: Is there Becoming or no Becoming?If there is no Becoming, Nietzsche's ontology is straightforwardly false.If there is (eg gibt, il y a) Becoming, then Becoming onto-logically presupposes Being.It follows that Nietzsche is a metaphysician and a theologian malgre lui.Some of his claims about art and the aesthetic may therefore be understood to unintentionally express profound truths.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Nietzsche
Schopenhauer
and Hegel
Ethics
Aesthetics
and Art
Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Eidos A Journal for Philosophy of Culture
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 84–125
- Publication date
- 31 January 2026
- Language
- EN