Volume XI, Issue I, Fall 2017

Philosophy in the manner of Plato should rather be defined as an erotic contest, as a further development and inward intensification of the old agonal gymnastics and their Presuppostions. —Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, Sum 23.”

Editors’ Introduction

Among the most enduring of all discoveries is the pathogenic impact of the society on the individual, revealed to science by Nietzsche…I therefore presume to approach Freud’s discoveries in these areas as the direct continuation of Nietzsche’s research.” – Otto Gross, On The Inferiority Complexes

We are excited to bring you a special issue of the Agonist on Nietzsche and Psychonanalysis. From October of last year to March 2017 several members of the Nietzsche Circle met and engaged with many practicing psychoanalysts at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis (NPAP) in New York on a variety of topics, including Nietzsche’s complex relationship with Freud and the psychoanalytic movement in general. We were hoping to publish papers and talks presented at these events, however, we could only finalize one piece for this publication; a dialogue between Dr. Jared Russell and Dr. Yunus Tuncel on the former’s recent book, Nietzsche and the Clinic. There is no need to reiterate what is in this interview, which is longer and more comprehensive than the version that transpired at the event at NPAP. We hope that this book and the dialogue we started will provoke many debates and open new vistas in this interaction between theory and practice regarding regimes of the soul and its healing.

We would like to thank Dr. Jared Russell for his contributions to the Nietzsche Circle and hope to work with him again in the future, as well as the NPAP for giving us this opportunity. We also look forward to hearing from our readers whether it is their thoughts on content or their suggestions for future topics.

The Editorial Board, October 2017

Content: