Paralysis of will#
Summary#
Nietzsche diagnoses paralysis of will as a distinctly European disease arising from the sudden blending of long-separated races and classes, which produces generations lacking independence of decision and the courageous pleasure in willing. This condition manifests as skepticism and often disguises itself in respectable forms such as “objectiveness,” “the scientific spirit,” and “pure voluntary knowledge.” The disease is most prevalent where civilization has longest prevailed, particularly in France, while it remains weakest in Russia, where the power to will has been stored up and accumulated.