The Genealogy of Morals
Books | Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy
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Friedrich Nietzsche
Written in response to a book on the origins of morality by his erstwhile friend Paul Rée, the three essays comprising The Genealogy of Morals — all three advancing the critique of Christian morality set forth in Beyond Good and Evil — are among Nietzsche's most sustained and cohesive work.In the first essay — starting from a linguistic analysis of words such as "good," "bad," and "evil" — Nietzsche sets up a contrast between what he calls "master" morality and "slave" morality and shows how strength and action have often been replaced by passivity and nihilism. The next essay, looking into the origins of guilt and punishment, shows how the concept of justice was born — and how internalization of this concept led to the development of what people called "the soul." In the third essay, Nietzsche dissects the meaning of ascetic ideals.It is not Nietzsche's intention to reject ascetic ideals, "slave" morality, or internalized values out of hand; his main concern is to show that culture and morality, rather than being eternal verities, are human-made. Whether or not you agree with all of his conclusions, his writing is of such clarity and brilliance that you will find reading The Genealogy of Morals nothing short of exhilarating.
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More Details:
Author
Friedrich Nietzsche
Pages
128
Publisher
Courier Corporation
Published Date
2012-03-01
ISBN
048611189X 9780486111896
Community ReviewsSee all
""The Genealogy of Morals" stunned me with its originality. Nietzsche propounds a view that "noble" virtues of strength and pride were long ago subverted by a hateful and self-loathing "slave morality" that forms the root of the Judeo-Christian tradition:<br/><br/><blockquote>They have taken a lease of virtue absolutely for themselves, have these weaklings and wretched invalids, there is no doubt of it; “We alone are the good, the righteous,” so do they speak... as though health, fitness, strength, pride, the sensation of power, were really vicious things in themselves, for which one would have some day to do penance, bitter penance... how they thirst after being hangmen!</blockquote><br/><br/>This book - which the editor claims is Nietzche's most coherent work - tackles the evolution of our morality in three essays about slave morality, the origin and uses of guilt, and the relationship of ascetic ideals to the development of the slave morality. While shocking and controversial, I found Nietzsche's style of argumentation to be very difficult to follow. His work is very much a product of its time too - littered with anti-Semitism and chauvinism.<br/><br/>But in spite of these deficiencies, Nietzsche's book does succeed in that most difficult act - an act of completely original creation. I found his theories to be surprising, disturbing, and uncomfortable, yet difficult to refute. I'll have to do some more philosophy reading before I can decide what I think about his ideas.<br/><br/>The editor's note at the beginning helps considerably in contextualizing and understanding the structure of this short but very dense book.<br/><br/>My full review and highlights at <a href="http://books.max-nova.com/genealogy-of-morals/">http://books.max-nova.com/genealogy-of-morals/</a>"
Max Nova
"Outside of Nietzsche?"
Alexandre Denizé
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