# 13 explained — Beyond Good and Evil

> Chapter companion for Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

Nietzsche critiques the psychological dogma that self-preservation is the primary organic instinct, arguing instead that life's fundamental drive is the discharge of strength—the Will to Power—and that self-preservation is merely a frequent by-product of this more essential force.

## Themes in this chapter

### Will to Power

Explicitly defined as life's primary essence: 'A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength—life itself is Will to Power.'

### Psychology as the Fundamental Science

Directly addresses psychologists, challenging a core dogma and prescribing a methodological principle of economy for the science.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Directly addresses psychologists, critiquing their foundational assumptions and advocating for a methodological principle of economy.

### Baruch Spinoza

Cited as an example of inconsistency for positing the instinct of self-preservation as a superfluous teleological principle.

## Key lines

> A living thing seeks above all to discharge its strength—life itself is Will to Power ; self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results thereof.

The core drive of life is not to preserve itself but to expend its energy; this expansive force is the Will to Power, and survival is just a common side effect.

_Central redefinition of life's primary motive._

> let us beware of superfluous teleological principles!—one of which is the instinct of self-preservation (we owe it to Spinoza’s inconsistency).

We must avoid unnecessary goal-oriented explanations, like the instinct for self-preservation, a concept flawed by Spinoza's logical inconsistency.

_Methodological critique targeting a specific historical figure and concept._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/13
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters