Abstract

Recent publications have traced a relation of influence between Nietzsche's philosophy and Freudian psychoanalysis. While Freud is certainly intellectually indebted to Nietzsche, the present paper emphasises the significant difference between these philosophers' works: Namely, that they exhibit a different economy, and are thus committed to competing theoretical structures. This difference comes to the fore in the approach that each takes to elaborating the mind-body relation, and especially in the contrast between Freud's early neuroscientific speculations and Nietzsche's emphasis upon language, and particularly metaphor. In order to illustrate this 'economical' difference between their theories, the paper critiques Freud's early commitment to neurological discourse using Nietzsche's genealogical method.