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P.A. Kropotkin on F. Nietzsche (Based on Materials from the State Archive of the Russian Federation)
https://doi.org/10.30727/0235-1188-2025-68-6-online-first-4036
Abstract
The article presents the results of a historical-philosophical analysis of P.A. Kropotkin’s reception of F. Nietzsche’s ideas. The empirical foundation of the study draws on both published works and correspondence of the Russian thinker, as well as archival sources preserved in Kropotkin’s personal collection at the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The paper reconstructs the sources of Nietzsche’s conceptions of anarchists and illuminates E. Hartmann’s role in integrating Nietzschean philosophy into leftist discourse. The author traces the evolution of Kropotkin’s views on Nietzscheanism from his first mentions during a lecture tour in the United States (1901) to his culminating work Ethics (1922). Particular attention is devoted to analyzing how Kropotkin disavowed the concept of “will to power” as a metaphysical abstraction, counterposing to it a natural-scientific foundation for mutual aid and solidarity. The article examines the Russian anarchist’s strategy of discrediting Nietzsche by pointing to his dependence on the ideas of J.-M. Guyau, as well as his critique of the Nietzschean philosophical-anthropological model of the “Übermensch.” The study is supplemented by the publication of a previously unknown draft review by Kropotkin of A. Fouillée’s book Nietzsche and Immoralism, accompanied by detailed commentary. This document allows for a detailed reconstruction of the anarchist theorist's critical argumentation and his effort to present Nietzsche as a “secondary” thinker. The author concludes that Kropotkin's attitude toward the German philosopher was profoundly critical for several reasons. First, there was a fundamental misunderstanding and rejection of Nietzscheanism’s individualistic ethos; second, there was apprehension that the popularity of Nietzsche’s ideas in radical circles might deform the ethical foundations of anarchist doctrine. For Kropotkin, the critique of Nietzscheanism represented a principled defense of anarchism's humanistic and social vectors against the influence of radical individualism.
About the Author
Nikolai I. Gerasimov
Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nikolai I. Gerasimov – Ph.D. in Philosophy, Senior Research Fellow, Department of the History of Russian Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Moscow
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Review
For citations:
Gerasimov N.I. P.A. Kropotkin on F. Nietzsche (Based on Materials from the State Archive of the Russian Federation). Russian Journal of Philosophical Sciences. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30727/0235-1188-2025-68-6-online-first-4036
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