NIETZSCHE'S ANTI-DARWINISM

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (2010)

Friedrich Nietzsche’s complex connection to Charles Darwin has been much examined, and both scholarly and popular opinions have tended to assume a convergence in their thinking. In this study, Dirk Johnson challenges that assumption and takes seriously Nietzsche’s own explicitly stated “anti-Darwinism.” He argues for the importance of Darwin for the development of Nietzsche’s philosophy, but he emphasizes the antagonistic character of their relationship and suggests that Nietzsche’s final critique against Darwin represents the key to understanding his broader (anti-)Darwinian position. He also offers an original reinterpretation of the Genealogy of Morals, which has long been considered a text sympathetic to Darwinian naturalism but which he argues should instead be considered Nietzsche’s most sophisticated critique of Darwin and his followers. His book will be of interest to all who are interested in Nietzsche's philosophy and its cultural context.