The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw

This paper identifies the traces of Friedrich Nietzsche’s anthropological philosophy in the dramatic, sociological, anthropological, and philosophical writings of George Bernard Shaw. Apart from the obvious use of Nietzsche’s term “the Superman” (Übermensch) to serve the purposes of his own philosop...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Biljana Vlašković
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN FR SR
Publicado:	University of Belgrade 2016
Materias:	Anthropology GN1-890
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/860e089beaf84dcd90fc6eddb8a3cf6d
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:860e089beaf84dcd90fc6eddb8a3cf6d
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:860e089beaf84dcd90fc6eddb8a3cf6d2021-12-02T01:23:52ZThe Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw0353-15892334-8801https://doaj.org/article/860e089beaf84dcd90fc6eddb8a3cf6d2016-03-01T00:00:00Zhttp://eap-iea.org/index.php/eap/article/view/488https://doaj.org/toc/0353-1589https://doaj.org/toc/2334-8801This paper identifies the traces of Friedrich Nietzsche’s anthropological philosophy in the dramatic, sociological, anthropological, and philosophical writings of George Bernard Shaw. Apart from the obvious use of Nietzsche’s term “the Superman” (Übermensch) to serve the purposes of his own philosophy, the analysis shows further similarities between the two writers, namely that Shaw modified Nietzsche’s expression “the will to power”, as well as Schopenhauer’s concept of will as the world’s essence, and termed it the “Life Force”, which will enable a “creative evolution” of humans into a higher being, an Overman, or a Superman. Also concerning this is the role that Shaw gives to women in this process of creative evolution, by making the female the dominant gender, and in so doing radically deconstructing the deeply rooted 19th century view of woman as a being whose natural habitat is the family home, and whose role in wooing is exclusively passive. Such an attitude led many critics to believe that Shaw was a misogynist of the same kind as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. However, Shawian discourse as a whole exhibits а vehement support of the feminist struggles for the gender equality, which made the author a favorite in feminist circles. Different perspectives in Shaw’s anthropology mirror Nietzsche’s demand for the “transvaluation of all values”, and this alone is necessary to provide a constant change, which, according to both authors, is the only thing that is certain and constant in this world.Biljana VlaškovićUniversity of BelgradearticleAnthropologyGN1-890ENFRSREtnoantropološki Problemi, Vol 7, Iss 4, Pp 1139-1165 (2016)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN FR SR
topic	Anthropology GN1-890
spellingShingle	Anthropology GN1-890 Biljana Vlašković The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw
description	This paper identifies the traces of Friedrich Nietzsche’s anthropological philosophy in the dramatic, sociological, anthropological, and philosophical writings of George Bernard Shaw. Apart from the obvious use of Nietzsche’s term “the Superman” (Übermensch) to serve the purposes of his own philosophy, the analysis shows further similarities between the two writers, namely that Shaw modified Nietzsche’s expression “the will to power”, as well as Schopenhauer’s concept of will as the world’s essence, and termed it the “Life Force”, which will enable a “creative evolution” of humans into a higher being, an Overman, or a Superman. Also concerning this is the role that Shaw gives to women in this process of creative evolution, by making the female the dominant gender, and in so doing radically deconstructing the deeply rooted 19th century view of woman as a being whose natural habitat is the family home, and whose role in wooing is exclusively passive. Such an attitude led many critics to believe that Shaw was a misogynist of the same kind as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. However, Shawian discourse as a whole exhibits а vehement support of the feminist struggles for the gender equality, which made the author a favorite in feminist circles. Different perspectives in Shaw’s anthropology mirror Nietzsche’s demand for the “transvaluation of all values”, and this alone is necessary to provide a constant change, which, according to both authors, is the only thing that is certain and constant in this world.
format	article
author	Biljana Vlašković
author_facet	Biljana Vlašković
author_sort	Biljana Vlašković
title	The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw
title_short	The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw
title_full	The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw
title_fullStr	The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw
title_full_unstemmed	The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw
title_sort	influence of nietzsche’s anthropology on the works of george bernard shaw
publisher	University of Belgrade
publishDate	2016
url	https://doaj.org/article/860e089beaf84dcd90fc6eddb8a3cf6d
work_keys_str_mv	AT biljanavlaskovic theinfluenceofnietzschesanthropologyontheworksofgeorgebernardshaw AT biljanavlaskovic influenceofnietzschesanthropologyontheworksofgeorgebernardshaw
_version_	1718403086812184576

The Influence of Nietzsche’s Anthropology on the Works of George Bernard Shaw

Ejemplares similares