Beyond Good and Evil and On the Genealogy of Morals

Introduction

Beyond Good and Evil is subtitled 'Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future'. Here Nietzsche attacks the 'prejudices of philosophers', who believe they are seeking objective truth but are only defending their moral preconceptions; the essence of life, he argues, is 'will to power'. He distinguishes two kinds of morality, master morality and slave morality. In On the Genealogy of Morals, published the following year, three essays trace the origins of our moral ideas: at first 'good' was the self-affirmation of the noble; later the weak, out of 'ressentiment', called the qualities of the strong 'evil' and their own weakness, humility and obedience 'good': this was 'the slave revolt in morality'. He also examines the origins of 'guilt' and 'bad conscience' and the meaning of ascetic ideals. 'He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster.' These are Nietzsche's most systematic works of philosophy.