Meaning of der Wille zur Macht? Nietzsche

Meaning of 'der Wille zur Macht'? (Nietzsche)
Hello, this is regarding Friedrich Nietzsche. I have zero knowledge in the German language.

The English translation puts the phrase as 'the will to power', which I've always found quite odd. Though I haven't done extensive reading on him, he stroke me as someone who was more concerned with overcoming the limitations of man (greed, weakness, complacency, short-sightedness, etc) than with wielding power over other people. Of course, the phrase 'Will to Power' doesn't make sense in English anyway and I always have dismissed it as horrible translation.

With recent developments in USA with the ridiculous heckler and panderer Donald Trump being one of the two presidential nominees, a news article which equated the philosophy of Nietzsche and the apparent philosophy of Donald trump caught my attention.

So I did some googling and found someone's writing in Wikipedia that Macht used in Nietzsche's works more closely mean 'self-overcoming' and sublimation than what the English word 'power' means. A German-to-English dictionary also gave 'accomplishment' as a secondary meaning, and a forum post mentioned that it sometimes means 'do'.

Upon my findings, I've substituted the word 'power' in Nietzsche books with 'accomplishment/accomplish', and the books make much more sense. I'd like to ask native German speakers to provide some insight on the likely intended meaning of 'der Wille zur Macht'. Thank you!


8y ago
This is more of a question for r/askphilosophy, but you should be aware that statements like this:

Of course, the phrase 'Will to Power' doesn't make sense in English anyway and I always have dismissed it as horrible translation.

...are the equivalent of bringing a penknife to a gunfight. Philosophers have been elaborating on this idea for more than a century. Dismissing that literature and inventing your own translation - out of a language you don't even speak, no less - is a dangerous approach to philosophical understanding. Nietzsche often used words and ideas (e.g., ressentiment) that are difficult to translate without losing nuance, which is all the more reason to be cautious.

There is nothing nonsensical about the phrase "will to power" in English, anyway. If it comes off as idiomatic or poetic, that's only important insofar as it impedes the understanding of people seeing or using the term in context. Perhaps a more productive first step would be to consider why, across the decades, philosophers have translated "der Wille zur Macht" as "the Will to Power" and whether there isn't something in the concept that you are missing or misinterpreting.



exactly. This is true for any big philosophical concepts, regardless of the language used. Concepts like Power, Knowledge, Discourse or Will are highly dependent on the context they are discussed in and should never just be taken literal, even if you are reading an English text from an English author as an English native. The concepts behind those words differ from author to author and should always be treated that way. I am not too familiar with Nietzsche's concept of Power, but you should not rely on German translations, but rather on explanations and primary sources on Nietzsche's usage of that word.

A German-to-English dictionary also gave 'accomplishment' as a secondary meaning, and a forum post mentioned that it sometimes means 'do'.

You're confusing the noun "Macht" and the verb "machen" here. Whereas their word stem is the same indeed, their meanings aren't. "Macht" just means "power" (but not "force"), and "machen" means "to make" or "to do".

As a native speaker, I read "Wille zur Macht" (within Nietzsche's context) pretty clearly as "survival of the fittest" kind of statement.


The "power" translation isn't too far off, actually. Maybe it helps you to think of the English word "might".


Some of the misconceptions of the will to power, including Nazi appropriation of Nietzsche's philosophy, arise from overlooking Nietzsche's distinction between Kraft (force) and Macht (power).[2] Kraft is primordial strength that may be exercised by anything possessing it, while Macht is, within Nietzsche's philosophy, closely tied to sublimation and "self-overcoming", the conscious channelling of Kraft for creative purposes.

"Self-Overcoming" and "Redemption" (later in 1883). "Self-Overcoming" describes it in most detail, saying it is an "unexhausted procreative will of life". Therefore I agree in that way you chose to understand it" achievement" or " selfovercoming" is closer to the concepts from original work of Nietzsche 's