Biological Inheritance and Cultural Evolution in Nietzsche's Genealogy

Journal of Nietzsche Studies 44 (2):329-341 (2013)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

ABSTRACT Nietzsche's investigation into the origins of morality bears some striking similarities to contemporary investigations into human evolution. Here I investigate these similarities, using a comparison between Nietzsche's GM and Gould and Lewontin's influential “Spandrels” essay as a departure point. I argue that Nietzsche defends a proto-evolutionary psychology about morality, where the inheritance of enduring biological drives conflicts with our culturally evolved moral system. While Nietzsche's claims about the evolution of morality fit well within a Darwinian framework of natural selection, his claims about our underlying biology do not. Those claims cohere better with the non-Darwinian views found in nineteenth-century German biology and embryology.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 97,405

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Nietzsche's Schadenfreude.Michael Ure - 2013 - Journal of Nietzsche Studies 44 (1):25-48.
Nietzsche was no Darwinian.Patrick Forber - 2007 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 75 (2):369–382.
Nietzsche, biology, and metaphor.Gregory Moore - 2002 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.
Genealogy and the Structure of Interpretation.Alexander Prescott-Couch - 2015 - Journal of Nietzsche Studies 46 (2):239-247.
Strangers to Ourselves: Self-Knowledge in Nietzsche's Genealogy.Tom R. Hanauer - 2019 - Journal of Nietzsche Studies 50 (2):250-271.
Darwin and Nietzsche: Selection, Evolution, and Morality.Catherine Wilson - 2013 - Journal of Nietzsche Studies 44 (2):354-370.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-11-24

Downloads
74 (#233,228)

6 months
21 (#168,457)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Patrick Forber
Tufts University

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references