Stanković Pejnović, Vesna (2021) Philosophical Practice in the Light of the „War of the Sexes“. Synthesis philosophica, 36 (1). pp. 82-108. ISSN 1848-2317

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Abstract

According to Nietzsche, the fundamental problem between a man and a woman is rooted in the denial of antagonism between them. The man believes that their relationship must be that of eternal hostile tension and unavoidable injustice. Nietzsche asserts that there must be a rank order, where scaling is related to the actions of taking, accumulating and becoming greater by gaining power and overcoming narrower interpretations. This rank scaling does not allow for identicalness and equality, which are signs of the shallowness of instinct and the loss of one’s identity. Nietzsche endorses the difference and celebrates the otherness. Flourishing of an individual can never be interfered by the concept of equal relations. Nietzsche is convinced that people are different, and he advocates for agon (a power struggle) as a model of cultural and political relations. Since equality of human beings must consist of an equal amount of the same feature, Nietzsche sees this equality as being represented in the general will to power. Furthermore, the gender difference is also a socially constructed way of being. It is a creation of man’s image of how the world should look like. If included in a therapeutic approach, this perspective can shed new light on possible interventions methods in psychotherapy and philotherapy alike. Sex and sexual relationships can be singled out as key problems that prevail in the core of motivation for seeking professional therapeutic help (psychotherapy), no matter what therapeutic approach is used in such practice. It is a topic that has insufficiently drawn on Nietzsche’s legacy. The aim of this paper is to provide arguments that Nietzsche’s perspective on “war of the sexes” sets a productive context for both psychotherapeutic intervention and for philosophical consultancy.

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