more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
To know 'who he is', we must know the order of rank the innermost drives of his nature stand in relative to one another.
Gist of Idea
The ranking of a person's innermost drives reveals their true nature
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil [1886], §006)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Beyond Good and Evil', ed/tr. Hollingdale,R.J. [Penguin 1973], p.20
A Reaction
This is clearly an essentialist view of a person, as having a 'nature', which is 'inner', and which we can try to specify. Ranking drives and values seems a good proposal for getting at it. I'm also intrigued by what people find interesting.
| 19373 | A 'conatus' is an initial motion, experienced by us as desire or aversion [Hobbes, by Arthur,R] |
| 20307 | As far as possible, everything tries to persevere [Spinoza] |
| 21803 | The conatus (striving) of mind and body together is appetite, which is the essence of man [Spinoza] |
| 21869 | Our own force of persevering is nothing in comparison with external forces [Spinoza] |
| 13193 | Active force is not just potential for action, since it involves a real effort or striving [Leibniz] |
| 19364 | Volition automatically endeavours to move towards what it sees as good (and away from bad) [Leibniz] |
| 13183 | Primitive forces are internal strivings of substances, acting according to their internal laws [Leibniz] |
| 20355 | The ranking of a person's innermost drives reveals their true nature [Nietzsche] |
| 20131 | We can cultivate our drives, of anger, pity, curiosity, vanity, like a gardener, with good or bad taste [Nietzsche] |
| 23213 | The greatest drive of life is to discharge strength, rather than preservation [Nietzsche] |
| 21867 | Conatus is brain circuits seeking survival and well-being [Damasio] |
| 21866 | Hobbes and Spinoza use 'conatus' to denote all endeavour for advantage in nature [Lord] |