The will to power
Lately I have been thinking about the link between Voldemort and Nietzsche and his idea of the “will to power.” When Harry met the real Quirrel, the professor confesses that he used to be “full of ridiculous ideas”:
I met [Voldemort] when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those to weak to seek it.
This point is age old, going back at least as long as Plato (or, as I believe, mankind). In the Republic, Plato argued that justice is always preferable to injustice. But Thrasymachus, one of the sophists, didn’t agree with him. For Thrasymachus, justice is what the person with power says it is. In other words, “might makes right.”
This was later developed by Nietzsche, who focused on mankind’s “will to power.” I agree with Nietzsche that mankind have a will to power, butI disagree with him that we should pursue it any means. Any thoughts?
When reading this post a scene from Frank Herbert’s excellent novel Dune came to mind -
“One of Halleck’s aides down the table swivelled in his chair, snapped: ‘There’s no justice in this!’
‘Justice?’ The Duke looked at the man. ‘Who asks for justice? We make our own justice’ ‘…let us not rail about justice as long as we have arms and the freedom to use them’”
I’m not sure of your conclusion of “might makes right” above is the same as “justice is what the person with power says it is”. Sticking with Harry Potter we could say that Voldemort and Dumbledore both have the power to make their own justice or to force others to believe and act their way. We see Voldemort making arbitary decisions and using force, fear and terror to accomplish this. We see Dumbledore living by a moral code and by respect, love and responsibility he woos others to live by the same code. So for me, it appears that Dumbledore lives by “right makes right” even though he has the force to impose his own will on others.
Ever see the 1970 movie Cromwell, with Richard Harris as Oliver Cromwell? I’m not sure about it’s historical accuracy but the whole movie is extremely relevant to this topic. I really encourage anyone to watch this.
Matthew
I do not know if you had a typo, but I agree with you in that Dumbledore lives by “right makes right,” but I do not believe that he lives by “might makes right.” That means that the one in power decides what is right, far from what really is riht.
Yes I did mean “RIGHT makes right”. He is not forcing his own way. He is living the code. If he was a might makes right man and Harry was his weapon against Voldemort he would be encouraging Harry to gain as much power and strength or possibly guile and cunning to defeat him. Rather he is equipping Harry with understanding, love and respect.
Matthew
Yes, exactly!