Nietzsche on Conflict, Struggle and War

Nietzsche controversially valorizes struggle and war as necessary  ingredients of human flourishing. In this book, James S. Pearson  reconstructs Nietzsche's rationale for placing such high value on  relations of conflict. In doing so, Pearson reveals how Nietzsche's  celebration of social discord is interwoven with his understanding of  nature as universal struggle. This study thus draws together Nietzsche's  writings on politics, culture, metaphysics, biology and human  psychology. It also overcomes an entrenched dispute in the critical  literature. Until now, commentators have tended to interpret Nietzsche  either as an advocate of radical aristocratic violence or, by contrast, a  defender of moderate democratic contest. This book navigates a path  between these two opposed readings and shows how Nietzsche is able to  endorse both violent strife and restrained competition without  contradicting himself.