Nietzsche's holism: A paradigm for integration

With Europe at a crossroads, facing both nationalism and globalism, Nietzsche has some interesting things to say about our world today. Nietzsche's holism is multifaceted and complex, thus, he has attracted many critics. Recent scholarship has interpreted his holism as an offence to modern liberal society. Some have claimed that Nietzsche's “perspectivism” and the “overcoming of morality,” two essential categories of his holism, are essentially expressions of democratic ideals of tolerance. Still others have argued that Nietzsche's ‘will to power’ is to be understood as an expression of freedom where human bondage and prejudice are cast aside in the name of some brand of neo-Kantian liberalism. And finally, there are those voices who continue to paint Nietzsche's holism as nothing more than savage realism and harsh criticism. In this essay, I examine many of these claims (focusing principally on ‘the will to power’) with the expectation of trying to discern the value of his holism for advancing a paradigm for integration.