2 minute read
Editor’s Note
It’s time for a little philosophy of golf again so let’s consider the German philosopher Frederich Nietzsche’s most famous idea: the Will to Power. This is one of his most complex if widely maligned ideas and I’ll sum it up here as “a ceaseless, irrational force in all individuals that is neither good nor bad and can be harnessed, mastered, transformed, and directed toward different ends.”
Advertisement
Nietzsche’s ideas on the will to power were influenced by the 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation. Like Machiavelli and other pragmatists, Schopenhauer had a deeply pessimistic view of hu-man nature and believed that a “ceaselessly striving, irrational force he called ‘Will’ constituted the dynamic essence of the world” that “manifests and expresses itself through individuals in the ‘will to life’ that can be seen throughout nature and is the source of much misery because it is essentially insatiable.”
The only thing we humans can do to reduce this misery, he advises, is to find ways to sublimate and subdue it through, say, music or art—and, I would add, by mastering all aspects of your game. That’s a lot to process, I know. But we’re gonna quickly dig a little deeper here to get to the heart of the matter.
In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche repeatedly refers to what he calls “a Dionysian Impulse” as the ultimate source of Greek tragedy. Like Schopenhauer’s will, Nietzsche tells us that this impulse “is an irrational force that surges up from dark origins and expresses itself in wild drunken frenzies and festivals of cruelty.”
Yikes is right! But he leaves us with a slight glimmer of hope because his later notion of the “Will to Power” retains bits of this idea of a cosmic, irrational force that can be “harnessed, mastered, and transformed in order to create something meaning-ful and beautiful.”
In other words, the Will to Power, as Nietzsche tells us, is neither good nor bad. It’s just a basic drive found in all individuals that can be mastered and expressed in an astonishingly wide variety of ways. Or as he might say: “Philosophers express the will to power into a will for truth. Scientists, into a will for facts. Artists, into a will to create.” And golfers, I would add, into a will to power to master all aspects of their game.
But how is this done? Nietzsche would tell us to focus on what he calls “self-overcoming, self-mastery and self-transformation”— and this is where golf comes in again because “the will to power” can be harnessed and directed toward over-coming, mastering, and transforming all aspects of your game, whether it be chipping, pitching, putting or pounding it down the middle of the course.
You might not think that you have the power to do this, but you do. And here’s the key: No one can do it for you. Only you have the power to harness, transform and direct your will to power to truly improve and master your game. It could be as simple as practicing more often, working on your backswing, or altering your mental state from frustrated, anxious, and uptight to feeling happy, relaxed, grateful, and kind—both on and off the course. Because let’s face it: playing and living well with others is what golf, and life, is all about!
And there you have it! Nietzsche and the “Will to Power” to transform how you perform on the course!
Enjoy your walk,
