Nietzsche on the «Sovereign Individual» and Agency

Abstract

Nietzsche characterizes the sovereign individual using the metaphysical and moral language of free will and responsibility. It is, therefore, unsurprising that this description has sparked significant controversy among Nietzsche’s commentators – particularly in Anglo-American scholarship – as it appears to contradict the vast majority of his positions on these subjects. First, the article presents the two principal currents of interpretation: on one side, commentators who affirm the figure of the sovereign individual as compatible with Nietzsche’s philosophy; on the other, scholars who argue that the passage should be understood as ironic, since it not only contradicts Nietzsche’s steadfast fatalism but also clashes with the central tenets of his philosophy. Second, the article advances a position within this ongoing controversy. In my reading, Nietzsche understands agency as the incorporation of certain attitudes. An agent’s free choice consists only in the decision to transform certain attitudes into instinct, that is, to internalize ideals of conduct in such a way that they can become habits of action.