back to ideas for this text


Single Idea 18313

[from 'Twilight of the Idols' by Friedrich Nietzsche, in 20. Action / B. Preliminaries of Action / 2. Willed Action / a. Will to Act ]

Full Idea

At the beginning stands the great fateful error that the will is something which produces an effect - that will is a faculty.... Today we know it is merely a word.

Gist of Idea

The big error is to think the will is a faculty producing effects; in fact, it is just a word

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (Twilight of the Idols [1889], 2.5)

Book Reference

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Twilight of the Idols and The Anti-Christ', ed/tr. Hollingdale,R.J. [Penguin 1972], p.38


A Reaction

This is despite Nietzsche's insistence that 'will to power' is the central fact of active existence. The misreading of Nietzsche is to think that this refers to the conscious exercising of a mental faculty.