Conclusion: From ‘Underman’ to ‘Underclass’

Summary

The more I relinquish my rights and level myself down, the more I come under the dominion of the average and finally of the majority. The presupposition inherent in an aristocratic society for preserving a high degree of freedom among its members is the extreme tension that arises from the presence of an antagonistic drive in all its members: the will to dominate –

If you would do away with firm opposition and differences in rank, you will also abolish all strong love, lofty attitudes, and the feeling of individuality.

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Towards a true psychology of the society based on freedom and equality – what diminishes?

The will to self-responsibility, sign of the decline of autonomy; effciency in defence and attack, also in the most spiritual things: the power of commanding; the sense of reverence, subservience, ability to keep silent; great passion, the great task, tragedy, cheerfulness.

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, §936.

The issue of Nietzsche's influence over eugenics has become contemporary once again. In Germany, the Karlsruhe philosopher Peter Sloterdijk has recently argued that, given the understanding that now exists in genetic science, the eugenic dream of ‘selection’ is now within reach. Sloterdijk's use of the word ‘selection’ horrified his colleague Ernst Tugendhat, who heard evoked in this word the ramp at Auschwitz; what really worried the critics, however, was Sloterdijk's argument that this capability should be exploited, to breed a new generation of human beings. This aim might be truer to Nietzsche's ideas, as expressed in The Will to Power, than those of the earlier twentieth-century race thinkers: ‘… to what end shall “man” as a whole – and no longer as a people, a race – be raised and trained?’ This is the dream of improving the species as a whole.

Sloterdijk deliberately provoked the debate that followed with his choice of language. But even what he was really proposing was unclear and worried many critics.