Nietzsches Genealogy of Morals

1
Nietzsches Genealogy of Morals

• A three-step process
• What is morality?
• Where does morality come from?
• Is morality something we should embrace or reject?

2

• We could do similar genealogy to
• Halloween
• Capitalism
• Religion(s)
• Racism
• Chess

3
What is morality?

• Each and every human no matter his or her
  abilities or social status is of equal moral
  worth.
• I should care about others welfare for their own
  sakes, independently of what it might do for me.
• I should not repay harm with harm.

4
What is morality?

• Moral Equality
• Moral Democracy
• Anti-Egoism
• Anti-Retaliation

5
Where does morality come from?

• Kants answer
• A priori reason
• Mills answer
• Intrinsic value of happiness of everyone
• Lockes answer
• God

6
Where does morality come from?

• Nietzsches View
• A genealogical answer
• An historical answer
• (Recall comparison with Halloween, capitalism,
  etc.)

7
Where does morality come from?

• Nietzsches View
• Morality has changed.
• Originally, there was a master-morality.
• Now what we have is a slave-morality.
• How did we get from one to the other?

8
Where does morality come from?

• Good of master-morality
• Noble, aristocratic, strong, beautiful, powerful,
  healthy, vital
• A term the superior applied to themselves
• Bad of master-morality
• Whoever is not good an afterthought
• Common, weak, ugly, wretched, lowly

9
Master Morality

• Pleasure is a trivial concern.
• The happiness of people in general is of no
  concern.
• The good is defined as that which promotes the
  goals of those who are superior.
• The gods are conceived of as loving the strong.

10
Master Morality

• Proudly Elitist not for moral equality or
  democracy
• Unabashedly Egoistic or at least not concerned
  with the happiness of people in general
• Anti-Utilitarian
• Anti-Kantian

11
Where does morality come from?

• Master Morality
• Elitist
• Anti-anti-egoist
• Unconcerned with pleasure of all, with
  universalizability, with humanity
• Not Judeo-Christian

• Slave Morality
• Moral Equality
• Moral Democracy
• Utilitarian-type pleasure of all
• Kantian-type universalizability humanity
• Judeo-Christian

12

• According to Nietzsche
• How did the valuations of master-morality get
  twisted into those of slave-morality?

13

• According to Nietzsche
• Who twisted our valuations from master morality
  into slave-morality?

14
Nietzsches Genealogy of Morals

• A three-step process
• What is morality?
• Where does morality come from?
• Is morality something we should embrace or reject?

15
Embrace or reject (slave-) morality?

• The value of these values themselves must be
  called into question.
• What value do moral values themselves possess?
  Have they hindered or furthered human
  prosperity?
• Might morality be a great danger to mankind,
  the danger of all dangers?