Beyond Good and Evil and The Genealogy of Morals

by Friedrich Nietzsche

In 1886, Frederich Nietzsche self-published Beyond Good and Evil.  Structured into 296 separate sections, and nine parts, this work deconstructs the metaphysics and dogma established by previous philosophers. Nietzsche traced the roots of issues that he viewed hindered mankind in his society.  He spoke about what it means to be a free spirit, the prejudice of philosophers, and begins questioning traditional morality.

On the Genealogy of Morals was published a year later in 1887.  Influenced by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Soren Kierkegaard, the book consisted of three overlapping essays.  It follows the evolution of morals and the moral prejudices of Christianity and Judaism.  In this book, Nietzsche goes into the history of values and why we’ve put so much emphasis these values. 

In his treatises, Nietzsche delves into the origin of good and evil, guilt, bad conscience, resentment, and how these parts of the human condition have evolved over time.  
 

Genres: Philosophy, Classics, Nonfiction, German Literature, Psychology, 19th Century

450 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1887

About the author

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24, but resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.

Reviews

[Janine Glaeser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Challenging book, took time to get through and still I feel I did not get to much input from it. Some really good thoughts, some I‘d disagree with and in total I feel some ideas are explained with so many words that you lose the point and feel confused afterwards. Nevertheless, I guess people who are more into philosophy get a lot more out of this one and understand it better than me

[Tragedies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ich hab mich bis S. 94 gequält, aber bin immer wieder eingenickt (was mir auch noch nie passiert ist) und hab jetzt aufgegeben.

Sehr trocken und wirr geschrieben, viele veraltete Ansichtsweisen; was nicht veraltet ist, war mir auch nicht gerade neu.

[Dollie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Curiosity finally led me to read some Nietzsche. I soon found that a completely different culture and 130 years didn’t translate well (for me). I probably should have just looked him up on Wikipedia, which I did do after finishing this book, but I couldn’t even read the entire article. I guess I had just had enough. I didn’t understand a lot of his thoughts and no matter how hard I tried to concentrate on what I was reading, my mind kept wandering, so I could only read this in small doses. From reading this book, I learned that I definitely don’t need to read anymore of his work. I cannot recommend this unless one is a philosophy student, and it’s required reading.

[Marcel]

🫨👍

[Rob Sica · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, the best translation ever of BGE, and at least equal to Clark & Swenson's GM. Essential reading.

[Jean Bourgeois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute banger. Best philosophy work ever. Should be read in German - unlike other German philosophers (apart from Schiller) he's actually and literary writer. There is a lot of humour in the work which should not be underestimated. Some of the aphorisms are crazy.

[Mallika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars because my avg brain couldn't comprehend most of Neitzsche's profound thoughts.

[Stupid Slave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nietzsche was a true american patriot

[Atrona Grizel (Sov8840)]

Behind the mirror, a second silence waits.

[Madison Freeman · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the Genealogy of Morality: not much was said in this that I feel like I haven't read from Nietzsche before, except for his excellent elucidation of Christian guilt and resentment.

[Hugo Villalobos Canto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuando los genes apenas comenzaban a conocerse, y más de un siglo antes de que el concepto de los memes comenzara siquiera a gestarse, Nietzsche era capas de sentir su existencia sólo con observar sus manifestaciones en la naturaleza, las cuales estaban ocultas para las personas comunes, pero no para uno de los pensadores más profundos, analíticos y claros que han existido. Era, además, un gran artista.

"Cuando me encuentro con una criatura, encuentro la voluntad de poder"

"Los fisiólogos deberían pensarlo bien antes de afirma que el instinto de autoconservación es el instinto cardinal de un ser orgánico. Algo vivo quiere, antes que nada, dar libre curso a su fuerza -la vida misma es la voluntad de poder-: la autoconservación es tan sólo una de las consecuencias indirectas y más frecuentes de esto"

"la filosofía es ese instinto tiránico mismo, la más espiritual voluntad de poder, de "crear el mundo", de ser causa primera"

[Omar Bravo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Más allá del bien y del mal

Con potentes aforismos Nietzsche desarrolla una de sus tesis centrales en su obra, ¿qué es lo que consideramos bueno y malo en sentido moral?. Se aprecian muchas de las ideas que luego son puestas en lenguaje poético en Así hablaba Zaratustra, solo que aquí se observa de donde parten sus planteamientos filosóficos, desde que pensadores critica y que interrogantes le surgen.

Genealogía de la moral

En el mismo estilo de aforismos que lo caracterizó, el autor hace una revisión sobre la evolución de la moral hasta nuestros días. Está un poco carente de estructura histórica o de sistematización y orden, pero la fuerza narrativa de Nietzsche en cada aforismo hace que busques leer el siguiente y te va llevando a la idea central del libro: la coexistencia de dos morales antípodas, la de amo y la de esclavo.

[Bc13513 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book that I read from him. Been honest, initially, I didn't like. Sometimes seems that he is so deep in philosophical concepts that I cannot see the point, or even wanted it, I thought , what's the sense in ideias that don't have any real applications or useful critics, there's no objective, not even entertain me. But slowly he becomes to make more sense for me. I think the way he can point the religion and the moral amazing. And the last chapter is like... Wow! That only chapter worth a lot, I mean, all the book worth, but this part can be so deep. Well, unfortunately I don't have the same gift he has with words (and thinking, of course), but I think that everyone should give him a chance.

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

dieses Werk auf den Punkt gebracht wäre "man up!". alles dreht sich um den weißen, mitteleuropäischen Mann. warum so viele behaupten Nietzsche sei kein Frauenfeind gewesen, kann ich nach dieser Lektüre nicht verstehen. Vielmehr scheint das ein wichtiger Baustein seiner Philosophie. Vom Rassismus ganz zu schweigen. Abgesehen davon bleibt ein solides Werk dass viele Denkanstöße gibt, besonders im ersten Teil in dem an vielen anderen philosophischen Schulen Kritik geübt wird.

[Nuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mis siis on lõppude lõpuks üllas? Ja mis on see suur absoluutne tõde?

Suurepärane tõlge Jaanus Sooväljalt. Mulle meeldis ka tema seletus/tõlgendus järelsõnas. Kuigi nende tõlgendustega filosoofias on ikka nii, et iga üks võtab sõnast kinni oma mätta otsast vaadatuna (Sooväli toon ka sellest järesõnas näite).

Nietzsche on tõsine asi. Olen tema tekste korduvalt lugenud (võõras keeles). Kahju, et eesti keelne filosoofia riiul nii lühike on.

[Erin Walseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche examines truth, its "nature" and what it means to be true. The world we live in is based on our own perceptions, this world is very complex, and people inaugurate ideologies to simplify its intricacies. Nietzsche's argument is that we only deceive ourselves by seeing these "concepts" as truth.

Nietzsche's writings are unmatched, unique and in some parts very poetic.

[Samantha4550 · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.5
Nietzsches Schreibstil ist der einzige Grund warum dieses Buch nicht nur einen Stern bekommen hat. Die meisten seiner Ideen sind am Besten fragwürdig (z.B er denkt, dass die Demokratie schlecht für die Welt ist), und er hat diese Ideen auch nicht sehr gut unterstützt. Darüber hinaus ist es sehr klar, dass er Frauen nicht nur nicht gemocht, aber gehasst hat.

[Mitchell Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a guide to Nietzchean thought this book is an excellent primer, although Nietzsche relies enough on ambiguity to make comprehension a bit challenging. I rate this book 3 stars due to general disagreement with his thought.

[Gabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read through the whole thing. I don't have much of a mind for philosophy, so someone else could understand more than I did. But Nietzsche's ideas were simply wrong while he was a very smart man, he was simply wrong.

[Bùi Linh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nietzsche's train of thoughts made me question my own perception for a while. I quite like the idea about how the world is divided into two types of moralities: master and slaves morality. although I doubt its rightness.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m working on the first six sections a lot rn, and I’ve come to think no other book in the Western Phil canon is written and structured as carefully and masterfully as this one (except for some of Plato’s dialogues maybe).

[Edwardian_ice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Малютка Ницше, малютка Фридрих - мой великий гений.

[Luka Bošković]

I must read Kant's and Schopenhauer's books before reading this book for a second time.

[Sasha Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have finished Beyond Good and Evil and I loved it! I will write another review for the Geneology of Morals once I have read it.

[Teun Voeten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the first time in english edition when I was 18.

Reread as a student the German original in a course by Dutch Nietzsche scholar Prof. Paul van Tongeren

[Scott Hinman]

Completing this felt like a Sisyphean task

[Tj · Rating 2 out of 5]

He makes some good points...and some bad ones. I understood about 80% of it. Tough read though.

[Ángel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los otros, por el contrario, no quieren responder de nada, ser la causa de nada, y ansían, a consecuencia de un secreto desprecio de si mismos, descargarse de no sé qué.

[Timi Okoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always wanted to read this masterpiece for a long time. Delighted I did. Deep thoughts and a few highlights. A philosophical classic!

[Steve Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's exactly what you'd expect it to be. Dense but interesting like a good sponge cake.