Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- The Nineteenth Century: Introduction
- 1 Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason
- 2 Johann Gottlieb Fichte:Foundations of the Entire Science of Knowledge
- 3 G. W. F. Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit
- 4 Arthur Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Representation
- 5 John Stuart Mill: On Liberty
- 6 Søren Kierkegaard: Philosophical Fragments
- 7 Karl Marx: Capital
- 8 Friedrich Nietzsche: The Genealogy of Morals
- Index
8 - Friedrich Nietzsche: The Genealogy of Morals
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- The Nineteenth Century: Introduction
- 1 Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason
- 2 Johann Gottlieb Fichte:Foundations of the Entire Science of Knowledge
- 3 G. W. F. Hegel: Phenomenology of Spirit
- 4 Arthur Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Representation
- 5 John Stuart Mill: On Liberty
- 6 Søren Kierkegaard: Philosophical Fragments
- 7 Karl Marx: Capital
- 8 Friedrich Nietzsche: The Genealogy of Morals
- Index
Summary
Although no single book presents all of Nietzsche's thinking on any of the many topics in which he takes an interest, The Genealogy of Morals comes as close as any to capturing the general aim of his mature work. It is sober, detailed, philosophically and psychologically astute, historically challenging, scholarly and a joy to read. Composed in 1887 and intended as a sequel to Beyond Good and Evil (BGE), The Genealogy of Morals (GM) is an extended argument in defence of a clear thesis. That thesis is that an analysis of moral values will reveal that their value lies almost exclusively in the social support they provide for the herd or slave elements of a society and not, as is claimed on their behalf, the ethical guidance they provide for all of us. According to Nietzsche, moral values are, again contrary to what is typically claimed on their behalf, self-interested and, since self-interested, not binding on everyone. At best, they are binding only on those for whom they promise to provide some relief from the suffering of life. The premises behind these surprising judgements are often controversial and go to some of our most deeply held assumptions about ourselves and our moral values. As we shall see, Nietzsche goes so far as to deny that we are all alike in a morally relevant way. He thinks that what we can say about human nature discloses morally relevant differences across humans that are substantive, deep and ineliminable. We are so different from one another that there cannot be a universally binding evaluative framework.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Central Works of Philosophy , pp. 209 - 234Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2005