Nietzschean Perspectives on Algorithmic Governance: Creativity, Resistance, and the Ethics of Digital Power
- Robotics,
- Artificial Intelligence (AI),
- Algorithmic Resistance,
- Digital Ethics,
- Human Agency
- Digital Culture ...More
Abstract
This study initiates a philosophical exploration of Friedrich Nietzsche’s discourse on power dynamics, applying his critical framework to contemporary debates surrounding the digitization and algorithmization of society amid rapid advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). By engaging with Nietzsche’s conception of creative culture as a realm of autonomous thought and action, the analysis underscores the centrality of human agency and responsibility in sustaining social resilience. Nietzsche’s critique of metaphysical systems through the lens of power relations suggests that humanity can transcend systemic illusions via reason—understood not as passive rationality but as an active, critical reflection cultivated within creative cultural practices. Building upon Nietzsche’s dialectic of “weak and strong types of behavior,” this article proposes that his philosophy offers alternative ethical considerations for technological development. Specifically, it examines how resistance—manifested in creative and individualized cultural expressions—can counteract the mechanization of social existence. This resistance fosters ethical frameworks grounded in personal autonomy, emotional depth, and moral responsibility, challenging the homogenizing effects of algorithmic governance. Furthermore, the study highlights the significance of subjective narratives, emotional intelligence, and empathetic engagement in shaping human-centered ethics that safeguard individual experiences against systemic dehumanization. Ultimately, Nietzsche’s insights provide a robust philosophical foundation for rethinking digital ethics, advocating for a balance between technological progress and the preservation of human creativity and diversity.
References
Alfrink, K., Keller, A., & Kortuem, G. (2022). Contestable AI systems: Designing for disagreement in human-AI decision making. Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517432
Ali, S. M. (2021). Decolonizing AI: A transnational feminist ethics of care approach. MIT Press.
Andrejevic, M. (2020). Automated media. Routledge.
Aronowitz, S. (2000). The knowledge factory: Dismantling the corporate university. Beacon Press.
Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the New Jim Code. Polity Press.
Briken, K., & Taylor, P. (2018). Fulfilling the ‘British way’: Beyond constrained choice - Amazon workers’ lived experiences of workfare. Industrial Relations Journal, 49(5-6), 438-458. https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12232
Broeckmann, A. (2020). Machine art in the 20th century. MIT Press.
Citton, Y. (2017). The ecology of attention (B. Norman, Trans.). Polity Press. (Original work published 2014)
Coleman, E. G. (2017). Hacker, hoaxer, whistleblower, spy: The many faces of Anonymous. Verso.
Diakopoulos, N. (2015). Algorithmic accountability: Journalistic investigation of computational power structures. Digital Journalism, 3(3), 398-415. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2014.976411
DiSalvo, C. (2012). Adversarial design. MIT Press.
Doctorow, C. (2020). How to destroy surveillance capitalism. Medium. https://onezero.medium.com/how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59
Duru, I. U., Eze, M. A., Yusuf, A., Udo, A. A., & Saleh, A. S. (2022). Influence of motivation on workers' performance at the University of Abuja. International Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, 7(2), 69-84.
Eubanks, V. (2018). Automating inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor. St. Martin’s Press.
Galanter, P. (2019). Generative art theory. Leonardo, 52(3), 211-217. https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_01454
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575-599. https://doi.org/10.2307/3178066
Lewis, J. E. (2021). Indigenous AI: A decolonial framework for artificial intelligence. Journal of Design and Science. https://doi.org/10.21428/bf6fb269.9f6ac3b1
Mohamed, S., Png, M.-T., & Isaac, W. (2020). Decolonial AI: Decolonial theory as sociotechnical foresight in artificial intelligence. Philosophy & Technology, 33(4), 659-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00405-8
Mouffe, C. (2005). On the political. Routledge.
Nietzsche, F. (1967). On the genealogy of morals (W. Kaufmann & R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Vintage. (Original work published 1887)
Nietzsche, F. (1974). The gay science (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). Vintage. (Original work published 1882)
Nietzsche, F. (1989). Beyond good and evil (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). Vintage. (Original work published 1886)
Nietzsche, F. (1990). Twilight of the idols (R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Penguin. (Original work published 1889)
Nietzsche, F. (1997). Untimely meditations (R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1874)
Nietzsche, F. (1999). The birth of tragedy (R. Speirs, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1872)
Nietzsche, F. (2006). Thus spoke Zarathustra (A. Del Caro, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1883)
Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. New York University Press.
Okoko, C. O., & Ahamefule, I. C. (2023). Historicizing Political Dichotomy Among the Double Unilineal but Prevalently Matrilineal Cross River Igbo. British Journal of Multidisciplinary and Advanced Studies, 4(5), 1-26.
Okon, I. E., & Ahamefule, I. C. (2023). INDIGENOUS Agrarian Institutions For Capital Formations Among The Ibibio People, 1900-2000. Akwa Ibom State University Journal Of Arts, 4(1).
Ota, E. N., Okoko, C. O., & Ahamefule, I. C. (2022). Fiscal federalism and resource control in Nigeria: Deconstructing conundrum. Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 10(1), 1-20.
Paul, C. (2021). Digital art (3rd ed.). Thames & Hudson.
Raghavan, V., Jia, X., & Chandak, P. (2020). The case for frugal AI. Nature Machine Intelligence, 2(7), 366-367. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-020-0197-y
Ratto, M., & Boler, M. (Eds.). (2014). DIY citizenship: Critical making and social media. MIT Press.
Scholz, T. (2016). Platform cooperativism: Challenging the corporate sharing economy. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
Usendok, I. G., Akpan, A., & Ekpe, A. N. (2022). Effect of Board Size and Board Composition on Organizational Performance of Selected Banks in Nigeria. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 10(5), 1-25.
Uto, S. C., Uwa, K. L., & Akpan, A. (2024). Knowledge management and competitive advantage in selected manufacturing firms in Akwa Ibom State. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 12(1), 1-20.
Villa, D. R. (2001). Socratic citizenship. Princeton University Press.
Zuboff, S. (2019). The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. PublicAffairs.