will to power
Drive to dominate
Will to power is a philosophical concept from Nietzsche describing the fundamental drive in living things—not merely to survive but to grow, expand, and assert dominance over one's environment.
Unlike simple self-preservation, it encompasses the urge to create, overcome obstacles, and impose one's vision on the world.
The term appears in discussions of ambition, creativity, and the nature of human motivation: His relentless expansion of the business reflected a pure will to power.
Self-surpassing human ideal
- master moralityValues exalting strength over weakness
- slave moralityEthics born from oppression
- self-overcomingSurpassing your former limits
- transvaluationReassessing fundamental worth
Zarathustra · nihilism · herd instinct · Dionysian · Apollonian · beyond good and evil · becoming · creative destruction
Earnest sustained endeavor
- achievementAccomplished goal or deed
- successFavorable outcome attained
- determinationFirmness of purpose
- climbingAscending by physical effort
goal-oriented · enterprise · initiative · advancement · aspiration · drive · motivation · relentless
Insisting on recognition
- egoOne's self-image
- instinctInnate behavioral tendency
- compensationPayment for services rendered
- inferiority complexChronic sense of inadequacy
sublimation · defense mechanism · aggression · id · libido · primal urge · psychic energy · self-actualization
Power to enforce obedience
- controlAuthority to direct
- supremacyHighest rank or power
- hegemonyDominant group's control
- dominationSupreme authority held
command · subjugation · coercion · ascendancy · predominance · mastery · conquest · intimidation
Übermensch
Self-surpassing human ideal
- master moralityValues exalting strength over weakness
- slave moralityEthics born from oppression
- self-overcomingSurpassing your former limits
transvaluation · Zarathustra · nihilism · herd instinct · Dionysian · Apollonian · beyond good and evil · becoming · creative destruction
striving
Earnest sustained endeavor
- achievementAccomplished goal or deed
- successFavorable outcome attained
- determinationFirmness of purpose
climbing · goal-oriented · enterprise · initiative · advancement · aspiration · drive · motivation · relentless · tenacity
self-assertion
Insisting on recognition
- egoOne's self-image
- instinctInnate behavioral tendency
- compensationPayment for services rendered
inferiority complex · sublimation · defense mechanism · aggression · id · libido · primal urge · psychic energy · self-actualization · dominance hierarchy
authority
Power to enforce obedience
domination · command · subjugation · coercion · ascendancy · predominance · mastery · conquest · intimidation · enforcement
- existentialismexistence, authenticity, existential angst, existential crisis, angst
- German PhilosophyKant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Heidegger
- Nietzscheoverman, superman, slave morality, Zarathustra, master morality
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
- life mottoscarpe diem, know thyself, this too shall pass, be the change, golden rule
- Tragic PhilosophyGreek tragedy, tragic hero, catharsis, noble suffering, Dionysian
will to powersubmission
Yielding to another's will
resignation · passivity · acquiescence · learned helplessness · defeatism
will to powernihilism
Rejection of objective meaning
asceticism · world-weariness · renunciation · quietism · abnegation
will to powerslave morality
Ethics born from oppression
self-sacrifice · altruism · humility · resentment · herd mentality
will, power, powerful, willing, unwilling, empower, powerless, powers, overpower