On the Genealogy of Morality

I read On the Genealogy of Morals for a graduate seminar on ethics, and in particular his writings regarding the virtue of courage. I found Walter Kaufmann's translation the best of several I looked at. Often regarded in philosophical circles as the first "postmodern" philosopher, Nietzsche is very critical to all of modernity's philosophical attempts to create a scientific or rationally based approach to ethics. Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals is in part a refutation of Kant's ethical theory, arguing that Kantian ethics as well as other modern ethical theories were more interested in defining ethical values and not concerned with questioning their usefulness or whether they were derived from what Nietzsche believed were irrational psychological forces feeding people's illusions. Another purpose of the Genealogy is to examine the history of how morals were created in Western culture. Nietzsche's extensive philological studies of ancient Greek literature led him to argue that there needed to be a historical and psychological approach to understanding how ethical values came into existence. Thus, one of Nietzsche's goals in his Genealogy is to provide a critique of ethical values, such as courage, and to examine, "...the conditions and circumstances in which they grew, under which they evolved and changed." (456, GM I, 6). Another important aspect of Nietzsche's Genealogy is found in Nietzsche's ethical notions finding common ground with Aristotelian virtue ethics. Only Aristotelian virtue ethics can fit well with Nietzsche's moral ethics. Thus, I find that an interesting outcome of Nietzsche's examination of Greek culture leads him down a path back to the first evolutionary stage of the virtue of courage in particular, and to the classical Greek inception of virtue ethics in general. Nietzsche enthusiastically followed this path and reintroduced the world to the critical need for the classical Greek interpretation of the virtue of courage to help shape the "postmodern" world. Nietzsche recognized in ancient Greek poetry that heroes are not content with just living, but are compelled to perform courageous acts even at the peril of their own lives. In fact, for Greek heroes, gaining fame and glory at the expense of often suffering a courageous death seemed to be their raison d'être. Nietzsche recognizes this phenomenon in Greek poetry, which alerts him to the notion that the ancient and classical Greek citizens accepted the idea that part of the nature of life was that it could be tragic, dark, and foreboding; however, the Greeks who were noble of character did not despair. This notion was readily accepted by Aristotle but not by Plato, who thought that Greek tragedy taught the citizenry the wrong lessons about life. They knew that to be virtuous was to engage in a constant agon or [contest] to overcome the pitfalls of life. This literary fact causes Nietzsche to understand that like the ancient Greeks, the best of contempo

This particular piece of Nietzsche's writing is a marvelous work - it is interesting and lively, much as Nietzsche's own writing and tendency toward the dramatic was noted by his contemporaries. Nietzsche's father was a Lutheran minister, but he died five years after Nietzsche's birth in 1844. Nietzsche was raised by his mother, grandmother and aunts; later in his life, his sister would become executor of his estate (after Nietzsche had become incapable of managing his own affairs) and reshape his philosophy and writings in her own idea - this becomes a running motif in later anthologies of Nietzsche; editors can quote and clip to fit their own agendas. In some ways, that is true of the text here, but in much less inappropriate ways than others, particularly Nietzsche's first editor, his sister. Nietzsche was a star pupil from his earliest days at university in Bonn and Leipzig. His formal study was in classical philology, but his attentions turned in various directions quickly during his writing and professional life - he had an intense interest in drama and the arts, with Wagner's music and Greek drama in principal interest. His first book was devoted to these topics - 'The Birth of Tragedy'. It was not highly regarded at the time, but has since become much more appreciated as an anticipation of later developments in philosophy and aesthetics. Nietzsche's life after this period was a very choppy one - he left the university, claiming illness, and while this developed later to be a true situation, at the time is was probably academic politics and difficulties fitting in with the establishment he was trying to break. He had a formal falling-out with Wagner, even writing later a piece entitled ' Nietzsche contra Wagner', finished just a few week prior to his going insane. In another edition, Walter Kaufmann states that Nietzsche's real career took off after his active life was over; under his sister's direction, many of the writings Nietzsche had managed to do and not get published, or which were published but forgotten, really took off in major directions. While his major works of Zarathustra, Ecce Homo, Will to Power and Genealogy of Morals were in various editions of disrepair (indeed, the Will to Power was never more complete than a series of notes), Nietzsche had a knack for language that made him very quotable, and his influence continued to grow well into the first half of the twentieth century, influencing art, philosophy, history, and politics in dramatic ways, if not always the ways in which Nietzsche envisioned. For example, Nietzsche was not particularly impressed with the 'typical' German anti-semitism, which later erupted into the Nazi movement. He considered it rather bourgeois, and while he undoubted had his own issues with Jews (Nietzsche had issues with almost everyone, particularly any group, Christians included, who had a religious connection), the Nazi use of Nietzsche's work owes more to Nietzsche's sister's influen

Cet oeuvre peut ?tre consid?r? comme un sommet de la derni?re "p?riode cr?ative" avant que Nietzsche tombait dans une maladie horrible jusqu'? son mort. IL A ECRIT CE LIVRE EN 3 SEMAINES, ENTRE LE 10 ET 30 JUILLET 1887 !!Dans sa "G?n?alogie" il y a quelques conceptions de base, quelques principes de l'?thique, comme "le bien et le mal", "la culpabilit? et la conscience" ET SURTOUT "l'id?al de l'asc?tisme", qui tiennent LEUR PLACE CENTRALE partout dans cet oeuvre. MAIS l'auteur ne traite PAS du tout ces "notions", ces "conceptions" conform?ment l'usage dans la philosophie de la morale. Il n'est pas tellement int?ress? en ce qu'elles signifient, ont de valeur dans une certaine morale, NON PLUS en ce qui est leur valeur ou m?rite normative. MAIS BIEN DANS LEUR NAISSANCE, LEUR ORIGINE et en ce qui est leur fonction dans une soci?t? organis?e.Il n'est pas important ce qui est la valeur d'une telle ou telle action: ce qui EST IMPORTANT pour lui EST LA VALEUR DE CETTE VALEUR MORALE MEME: "IL NOUS FAUT UN CRITIQUE DES VALEURS MORALES: TOUT D'ABORD LA VALEUR DES VALEURS DOIT ETRE MISE EN QUESTION.".Selon Nietzsche il n'y existe pas quelque chose comme un d?veloppement lin?aire, voire progressif de la morale: elle est la r?sultante du combat perp?tuel entre "seigneurs et esclaves", entre "ceux qui r?gnent et ceux qui sont r?gn?s". Chacun de ces deux groupes essaie - TOUJOURS ET PARTOUT - d'acqu?rir autant de pouvoir vers l'autre.LA MORALE EST L'INSTRUMENT LE PLUS IMPORTANT (m?me par excellence) DANS CE COMBAT, CE QUI RESULTE DE L'EMPORTEMENT, DE LA PASSION DE CHAQUE HOMME OU GROUPE: LA VOLONTE DE PUISSANCE.Ce CHEF D'OEUVRE de la main de Nietzsche ne se laisse pas lire comme un joli roman, mais ce livre est SI IMPORTANT QUANT'AU PENSEES QUE L'AUTEUR DECRIT, m?me dissecte ici. PAS FACILE A LIRE NE VEUT PAS DIRE IMPOSSIBLE A LIRE! J'ose dire ici: gr?ce au talent litt?raire ?norme de Nietzsche, aux sujets et pens?es QUI TOUCHENT CHACUN DE NOUS.POUR CHACUN qui conna?t l'importance de l'introspection et/ou qui VEUT SAVOIR beaucoup de plus quant ? L'ORIGINE DE "NOTRE MORALE", je recommende "La G?n?alogie" de tout coeur et raison. AUCUN LECTEUR NE REGRETTERA DE LIRE SOIT D'AVOIR LU CE LIVRE SI RICHE.

Nietzsche gives an historic account of how morality has developed in the world. Unlike many others, Nietzsche takes a historical approach to the development of morality and gets into the etymology of the the ancient languages. The "good vs. bad/good vs. evil" distinction is very important to get a grasp of as well as the concepts of guilt, conscience, and the ascetic ideal. Along with Beyond Good and Evil, this book should be one of the first by Nietzsche that you should read, in my opinion, to get a good grasp on Nietzsche's thought. Great analysis of Christianity too!

Perhaps the most readable book for a Nietzsche neophyte, yet a stunningly accurate and psychologically valid glimpse into the "moral," and an explanation of what that realistically entails. This book takes its reader on a tour of many souls: from the Dionysian aristocracy who once held the world for their pleasure, to the vengeful slave who despises the world for his inferiority. A warning, however: this will probably offend those who believe in modern democratic ideals.