Dalla peculiarità della pianta alla filosofia del giardino: per una lettura critica del pensiero vegetale di Nietzsche

A re-appreciation of plants can be definitely found in Nietzsche’s philosophy, as the works of Michael Marder and Vanessa Lemm point out. He positively evaluates their pe- culiar way of nourishing and their perception of the world, as his recognition of their belonging to the sphere of the will to power clearly shows. However, to state that plants’ marked egalitarianism constitutes an alternative – indeed, the correct – path to the self-ex- pression of a will to power finally deprived of subjugation and dominion, goes against Nietzsche’s intentions, both overall and concerning what he says about plants. Such egal- itarianism indeed exists, but in fact simply marks the very beginning of the long march of the will to power towards self-affirmation, its initial and primitive phase, whereas the way Nietzsche employs plants in his philosophy of garden, as well as the meaning of the art of gardening, restates the central position enjoyed by value distinction from the point of view of inequality and imposition. Therefore, while in Nietzsche plants take definitely part in the broader process of “breeding” the superior human nature, it is precisely for this reason that they can be employed and sacrificed along the path leading the latter to achieve full identification with the infinite creativity of the Dionysian.