Beyond Good and Evil

by Fredrich Nietzsche

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics, Psychology, German Literature

Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2013

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I clearly haven't read enough to have read this book. I persevered because it was fairly short but I don't think I really got a lot out of it. I'm going to read some more foundational philosophy books and I think probably reading a book that explains Nietzsche would be more beneficial if you don't have some familiarity already. I found the way it's written quite difficult to process which made thinking about the ideas presented even more difficult. These are reflections of my comprehension rather than the writing itself, but for anyone getting started, it may be worth finding an easier starting point before this one.

[Robert Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond Good and Evil is both abstract and esoteric. I found myself re-reading passages to understand the points that Nietzsche was trying to convey. Nietzche begins his long argument by discussing the philosophers namely Kant. Kant's categorical imperative that all morality must be absolute regardless of circumstances fails in Nietzsche's mind. Next Nietzsche demolishes "stoicism" and argues that it has no redeeming value. I disagree passionately about this since there is truth and wisdom in stoicism. Nietzsche argues that there is no God and no soul within individuals. Without God or a soul, people are reduced to a piece of meat. Nietzsche argues that man will procreate and their descendants will continue on based on the deeply held belief of "will to power." This is a falsehood since Europe which is the most secular civilization on the planet has few to no children.

Nietzsche argues if there is no God there is no free will. This is absolutely true; we are nothing but feeling robots that react to stimuli only. There is no meaning to life, we live and die and that's it if there is no transcendent. The great philosopher takes a wrecking ball and smashes morality which is based on a divine law giver. All morality can be broken down into either the slave or master schools of thought. Slave morality is based on God and superstition and must be done away with. Master philosophy is do whatever you feel like. If there is no God then there is no good or evil and by reduction the master, slave variants do not exist. In such a world the only thing that matters is power and lethal force to mold the masses into whatever role the superman welds.

Revisiting the soul, Nietzsche believes that the German people or volk has a soul. If you don't worship God then you will invent a new one to take its place. The great philosopher touches on the political and he looks at democratically elected governments with suspicion. He views democracies as a form of governments to be avoided. Nietzsche is considered to be one of the bad philosophers with good reason. His ideology is battery acid for the soul.

[Lauren Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning! Nietzsche begins from the death of God (and all of classically understand virtue) and builds a vibrant spirituality from there. If good and evil and virtue are indeed just utility, it is indeed noble to move beyond them.

I’m tempted to call him misanthropic, but he’s not. My only criticism left standing is that he lacks any sense of gratitude/love/wonder.

[Adela Enock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a really good read for me but also quite hard to understand how friedrich write the analogy of phylosophi in this book.

[Julius Soderqvist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intersting perspectives on life and morality