ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Nietzsche’s concept of the order of rank. While this idea seems to be a straightforwardly elitist concept, we argue that Nietzsche’s concept of the order of rank is crucial for democratic life and education because it helps us understand the distinction between civically damaging inequality and civically empowering inequality. We argue, counterintuitively, that the “noble culture” Nietzsche promotes throughout his corpus implies a society that supports and serves typical individuals as much as, or even more than, it does extraordinary individuals. We give an account of Nietzsche’s notion of the “philosophers, artists and saints” and the noble culture they are supposed to help bring about, both of which show up most prominently in his early essay Schopenhauer as Educator. What Nietzsche has in mind is an aesthetic-meritocratic cultural paradigm, in which people are mutually inspired by one another, even though they do not share the same level of talent and achievement. This inspiration comes from a basic moral and spiritual equality that is not threatened by inequalities of talent and achievement.
