Life and plurality. The trajectory of the Nietzschean reflection in Zambrano and Arendt

Abstract

This work addresses the effect that Nietzsche’s proposal for a way of life that aspires to the self-fulfilment of the individual had on María Zambrano and Hannah Arendt. The way in which both of them interpreted the German author allows for establishing continuities and differences in this respect and for drawing parallels between their own approaches. As with Nietzsche, Zambrano and Arendt regarded plurality as a constituent feature of humanity, for which reason they based their ideas on the critique of the Platonic paradigm that standardises existence. However, both the notion of persona that Zambrano set out and that of action that Arendt established deviated from the individualistic pathos pervading Nietzsche’s oeuvre and from its persistent reproof of equality. Both scholars ultimately highlighted the inadequacy of this approach for pondering on plurality in democracy.