NIETZSCHE ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

I argue that Nietzsche's thinking, contrary to the interpretation of Martin Heidegger, is compatible with an ecologically oriented, environmentally concerned philosophizing. In support of this contention, I show that Nietzsche's critique of traditional Western thinking closely parallels the critique of this tradition by environmentalist writers such as Lynn White, Jr. I also show that one of the principal thrusts of Nietzsche's own philosophizing consists of the attempt to overcome the kind of thinking that has provided a theoretical foundation for the technological control and exploitation of the natural world. Finally, I show that Nietzsche's notion of the will to power, at least in several of its formulations, has certain affinities to the ecosystem approach of modern ecologists.