To German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, the concept of free will is of relevance just as it is to all other existentialist philosophers alike. In understanding Nietzsche’s account against free will, it is of utmost importance to first be aware of his theory on human nature in general as the two are interconnected. For a strong believer in free will, Nietzsche’s philosophy might simply be regarded as the ‘other’ or the opposite view, that is, a determinist view on human nature. Nietzsche’s philosophy, however, is not necessarily deterministic per se and it is wrong to label him as such since he goes beyond the belief that all our actions are pre-determined. For the purposes of this paper, the focus will be on Nietzsche’s view on what free …show more content…
Since all things either dominate or are dominated, all life forces inherent in a given entity (be it an animal, a plant, or a human being) are the result of a grand war of conflicting, contrary physiological drives that are organized according to the dictates of the strongest, most demanding of them. Drives are distinguished primarily by their strength. For this reason, Nietzsche regards consciousness (mind) as of secondary importance to physiology (body). He regards our theoretical beliefs as rooted in our moral biases which are rooted in our physiology and denies that there is such thing as a singular, enduring, autonomous will that can be associated with the "I" in statements such as "I think" for he argues that a thought comes when it thinks, not when I do. As such, Nietzsche rejects the notion of free will. For him, we are creatures of nature and nature obeys the will to power and as such human nature is rife with aggressive drives that required curtailment by the repressive features of the ruling …show more content…
Free will is also illusion because, as Nietzsche says, “will" is only a word. What people feel as "choice" (which is symbolic) is actually the individual culmination of all (infinite) relations at the moment of action (which is pre-symbolic). In actuality, action exists whether or not a conscious or unconscious choice is present. No being means there is no subject. Subjects and objects are in reality, an illusion as they are changing all the time, which means that the only stability is change (FEB