The Nietzsche excerpt we read on Friday used the terms creditors and debtors to describe parties in a contractual relationships. According to Nietzsche, the creditor takes delight in his ability to exercise power over the creditor. The "lower and baser" the position of the creditor in society, the more enjoyment he derives from controlling the debtor.
To some extent, I believe Nietzche's beliefs may mix with Austin's theory of authority. Austin argued that civilians follow law primarily because they wish to avoid sanction. It is a fundamental expectation that as a citizen, you will follow all laws without objection.
Blending in Nietzche's beliefs into Austin's theory is a bit of stretch, but I believe the two blend well. A sovereign (such as a king) may enact and apply laws irrationally or unjustly for the solely to exert dominance. He takes pleasure in his ability to command the masses. The populace, meanwhile, is helpless. As debtors, they've pawned away most of their freedoms and liberties in order to reside under a soverign's domain. In return, they are protected from invading armies and have access to food and shelter. They provide their entire lives as collateral- one misstep and the citizens could be put to death or jailed for life.
In class, we took elements of Nietzsche's master-slave philosophy and compared it to Holmes' legal realism philosophy. It appears that elements of it can be incoroporated into a positivist philsophy as well, though.
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