On the Genealogy of Morals Summary

On the Genealogy of Morals Summary

First Treatise: "Good and Evil"

Nietzsche explains that the two opposite pairs: "Good and evil," and "Good and bad," are essentially different in origin. He continues by claiming that good is technically not tenable, since some versions of good are evil. For instance, a person who does good because he is compelled to do so by a wrong view of morality is enslaved, which is evil. So his good would be corrupted by his assumptions.

He treats the view of goodness as a type of nobility. In a noble life, good implies evil, just as combat requires enemies. An abstraction originates in this dynamic when the weak began to impose authority structures that threatened ultimate doom for "wrong-doers" and ultimate boon for "the good ones." Nietzsche notes that in Greek, the origins of the word "bad" and "evil" are "worthless" and "ill-born," respectively.

For purpose of illustration, Nietzsche invents a "blond beast," to argue that humans are basically animals, and it's not wrong for a chain of command to exist according to animal power, since that's how it happens in nature. Nietzsche claims that a predator is not evil for killing its prey.

Second Treatise: "Guilt"

Nietzsche views humans as repressed by guilt. This manifests itself in a forgetfulness that prevents the remembrance of natural intuition. There develops here an imposable moral sense. Since our world has debt systems, it seems that sometimes humans are in debt for their wrong-doing. Therefore the religions form among humans who are confused about how to behave.

Nietzsche outlines a complicated argument for the development of human repression, largely having to do with the imposition of order into nomadic societies, leading to a sense of internal hell and victimization. By ancestor worship, those natives develop a sense of "a god" developing in the compendium of ancestors.

Therefore, the weak and powerless develop the false sense that their mistreatment will be justified by a god that Nietzsche claims does not exist. Guilt is therefore a vestigial emotion.

Third Treatise: "Ascetic ideals"

The treatment of ascetic ideals begins with Nietzsche's claim that asceticism has meaning. This is especially true of artists, philosophers, women, physiological casualties, priests, and saints, in that order. However, Nietzsche does not concede that perhaps ascetic wisdom contains true wisdom—rather, it is the byproduct of the human compulsion to dedicate one's life to something.

He then explains what the illusory virtue would be for each class of benefactors.

The end of the book concerns the unfolding sense of complex morality that plagues modern men. He explains the origin of various "virtues," explaining their origin in wish fulfillment or power games. The effect is that he rejects any sense of obligation to obey his moral compass, explaining each impulse away as the part of a long, senseless, unguided process.

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