La transformación del ser humano en la filosofía de Friedrich Nietzsche. Sobre el concepto de “cría” (Züchtung) y su proyección en el pensamiento contemporáneo

Resumen

The thesis examines Nietzsche’s concept of “breeding” (Züchtung) and presents a philosophical interpretation. It studies the emergence and development of this concept within the whole of Nietzsche’s philosophy, from the first fragments in 1873 and 1875 to the latest uses in Nietzsche’s works from 1888. Züchtung emerges as a philosophical tool for cultural analysis: Nietzsche criticizes how different cultures breed different types of humans. The values of a given society are the expression of its physiological constitution and living conditions. Religion and morals are considered by Nietzsche as the main tools through which breeding is carried out, in most of cases with aims of social control and domination. Züchtung provides an awareness that human development can be carried out consciously and differently, thanks to the transvaluation of values. The first part of the thesis acts as a theoretical framework whose aim is to provide initial definitions and the conceptual tools to understand the rest: the ideas of culture, perspectivism, truth, genealogy, body, instinct, etc. The second part analyzes the role of Züchtung within Nietzsche’s critical dialogue with evolutionism, and more specifically, social Darwinism. The concept of Züchtung arises as part of the cultural and scientific context of Darwinism, due to the fact that the first translation of Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species to German used Züchtung as a translation for “selection”, both natural and artificial. Nietzsche presented his philosophical counter-proposal, questioning the underlining values of social Darwinism, and discussed the struggle for life, natural and artificial selection, heredity, as well as the ideals of life and progress. The third part of the thesis reconstructs and interprets the history of Züchtung within Nietzsche’s philosophy from the point of view of moral, political and social philosophy. This part analyses Nietzsche’s early uses of Züchtung in the context of his exaltation of the genius at the beginning of his lifework and his critique of the morality of customs, as well as the conceptual framework regarding health, therapy and cultivation in the middle works. After Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Züchtung becomes not only an analytical tool, but also a programmatic and long-term project. In Nietzsche’s last works, Züchtung is both part of his critique of Western civilization and the concept that articulates his proposal for human development with a global perspective in the context of Great Politics. The final part puts Nietzsche’s philosophy in dialogue with present philosophical currents that have either discussed the question of Züchtung or incorporated its echoes in their own philosophical proposals. The second-to-last chapter is dedicated to Nietzsche’s philosophy as a source of inspiration for biopolitics (Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, Roberto Esposito and Peter Sloterdijk), while the last chapter judges whether Stefan L. Sorgner’s alledged “Nietzschean transhumanism” is true to Nietzsche’s philosophy.