| Selected writings of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud are analyzed o demonstrate the thesis that, in the case of each thinker, the way in which they characterize the grounding of thought determines the shape of their political theory. Each of the three thinkers postulated a realm of human experience which is more fundamental than thought, which is seen instead as a product, or reflection, of that primordial reality. This aspect of experience is called "the pre-rational". It is analyzed in Marx as "species-being", in Nietzsche as "will to power", and in Freud as "the Id". It is argued that Marx derives the necessity for political action (in the form of revolution) from his casting of the pre-rational as essentially action; similarly, Nietzsche's instinctual politics are shown to be an outgrowth of his theory of will to power; and finally, Freud's social criticism is shown to be driven (and then compromised) by his theory of the unconscious. |
