The Origins of Good and Evil According to Nietzsche

A detailed Summary of The Origins of Good and Evil According to Nietzsche

The Origins of Good and Evil According to Nietzsche

In his work On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche intends to investigate not only the origin, but, more importantly, the value of morality. While Nietzsche does not specifically define morality, he speaks of the values of compassion, self-denial, and self-sacrifice (GM, Preface, S5). Nietzsche thinks that people have taken the worth of these values as something given, as beyond dispute. Until now, people have not doubted that good is of higher value (in other words, is of greater benefit to mankind) than evil, for instance. Nietzsche asks, "What if the opposite were true?" He suggests that maybe what we call good is actually a danger to mankind and what we call evil is of higher value (GM, Preface, S6). In the First Treatise, Nietzsche attempts to answer this question by showing how these terms have evolved to arrive at their present meanings. I will first explore Nietzsche's account and critique of these concepts, and will then give my own view of his account.

The origin of good and evil starts with the transition from nomadic societies to permanent settlements. This transition could not have occurred without natural born leaders. These leaders, the nobility, co

In conclusion, Nietzsche thinks that we cannot understand something if we assume that is has always held the same meaning. That is, we should not take the worth of our values, such as good and evil, as something that's given, but instead must first question their worth. He thinks the original idea of good was applied to people, not actions, and it was applied by the nobles who considered themselves to be good, in contrast to the base, common people. This is what Nietzsche refers to as master morality. On the other hand, the original idea of evil was applied to these same nobles by whom they considered the common, base people and so, slave morality was born. According to Nietzsche, the common, base people were victorious and so what was once good became evil.

In order to understand this origin of good (good as defined by the priestly caste), Nietzsche uses a contrast between lambs and birds of prey. It is quite understandable for the lambs to think of birds of prey as evil since they kill lambs, and for the lambs to think of everything else, such as themselves, as good. However, Nietzsche argues it would be just as absurd to expect a bird of prey not to kill, as it would be to ask a lamb to kill. Killing is an activity and only through the "seduction of language" do people think of the bird of prey as separate from its activity. In other words, there is no subject or doer behind the deed. The very essence of the bird of prey is in its activity, its expression of strength (GM, First Treatise, S13).

Nietzsche suggests that this attitude of the priestly caste, that we should praise those who are too powerless to hurt anyone for not hurting anyone, passed on to Christianity. In Section 14 of the First Treatise, Nietzsche spells out those values he identifies with Christianity: kindness, humility, obedience, patience, forgiveness, love of one's enemies, and the triumph of justice. According to Nietzsche, these Christian values are simply variations on the feelings of powerlessness and cowardice, which govern slave morality. Take, for example, the Christian ideals of forgiveness and justice, which, according to Nietzsc

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Approximate Word count = 1447
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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