Lenin and Nietzsche in the Althusserian Perspective: Philosophy as Eternal Battle Cover Image

Lenin and Nietzsche in the Althusserian Perspective: Philosophy as Eternal Battle
Lenin and Nietzsche in the Althusserian Perspective: Philosophy as Eternal Battle

Author(s): Alexander Sautkin, Elena Philippova
Subject(s): Political Philosophy, 19th Century Philosophy, German Idealism, Marxism
Published by: Lietuvos mokslų akademijos leidykla
Keywords: dialectics; materialism; idealism; practice; will to power; politics;

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the identification of some intersection points in the philosophical ideas of F. Nietzsche and V. Lenin. The analysis of Lenin’s views, given by Louis Althusser in a number of his works, can serve as the methodological basis for such a comparison. In this perspective, Lenin’s understanding of philosophy is characterized by the fact that philosophy is treated not only as a theory but, above all, as a practice of struggle for domination. Lenin and Nietzsche share the dynamic view of the universe, the idea of the leading role of contradictions and struggle in the world’s being. Philosophy appears as an expression of some hidden impulses, which are ultimately reducible to the will to power. Therefore, for both thinkers knowledge appears not as the result of pure and objective cognition, but as a product of the struggle of power instincts, and knowledge itself is a necessary element of any power order.

  • Issue Year: 30/2019
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 183-191
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: English