Friedrich Nietzsche

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Friedrich Nietzsche

• 1844-1900

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Nietzsches Genealogy of Morals

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

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What is morality?

• (Well come back to this in a little while.)

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Where does morality come from?

• What is the origin of the value judgments of good
  and evil?
• What underlies that which we call morality?

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Should we embrace or reject 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?

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• Consider a parallel three-step project about
• Halloween
• Capitalism
• Religion(s)
• Racism

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Nietzsches Genealogical Project

• What is morality?
• Where does morality come from?
• Is morality something we should embrace or reject?

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Nietzsches Genealogical Project

• What is morality?
• Where does morality come from?
• Is morality something we should embrace or reject?

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Central tenets of what we call 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.

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

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Where does morality come from?

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

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• Nietzsches view of the origin of morality
• A genealogical answer
• An historical answer
• (Recall comparison with Halloween, capitalism,
  etc.)

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• According to Nietzsche
• Morality has changed.
• Originally, there was a master-morality.
• Now what we have is a slave-morality.
• How did we get from there to here?

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Master Morality

• Original value distinction
• Good vs. Bad (not good vs. evil)

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Master Morality

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

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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.

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Master Morality

• Proudly Elitist (not for moral equality or
  democracy)
• Unabashedly Egoistic

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• Compare Nietzsches master morality to the ethos
  of great art.

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• Master Morality
• Proudly Elitist
• Unabashedly Egoistic
• Elevating good over bad.
• Slave Morality
• Anti-elitist (egalitarian, democratic)
• Anti-Egoistic
• Elevating good over evil.

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• Master Morality
• Proudly Elitist
• Unabashedly Egoistic
• Elevating good over bad.
• Slave Morality
• Anti-elitist (egalitarian, democratic)
• Anti-Egoistic
• Elevating good over evil.

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

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