Comparing Nietzsche's Master And Slave Dynamic

Power is often confused with authority. When taking into consideration freedom, equality, punishment, justice, and politics in general, it is essential to define the two as separate entities. Power is a social construction that allows superiors to create and embed values into the daily lives of others. This construction can be seen clearly through Friedrich Nietzsche’s master and slave dynamic. On the other hand, authority is a position of power that is determined by status within an institution. This is not a social construct, rather an organizational hierarchy. Authority is generally seen within government. Through the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault we receive a better understanding of the social construction of power that helps distance itself from authority.

Power is seen to have three separate dimensions. Written in Who Governs? by Robert Dahl it is claimed that “A has power over B if A gets B to do something B would not do otherwise,” (Smith “Power.”). In this case there is no other option for B, and B obeys A due to the social construction of power which states A is superior to B. Often times this is forced upon B through coercion,

The slave often does not agree with the values the master is trying to embed in his life. Nietzsche believes that “slave morality cannot exist without ‘a hostile external world; it needs, psychologically speaking, external stimuli in order to act at all - its action is fundamentally reaction’” (DeLue and Dale 352). This then creates conflict and “the slave seeks to change the world in keeping with universal values that end suffering and the domination of the master class,” (DeLue and Dale 350). If those who possess the herd mindset are able to break out and fight alongside slaves that do not, then the likelihood of bridging the divide between master and slave would