On the Genealogy of Morals

“My curiosity and my suspicion were eventually bound to lead me to the question of what was the true origin of our ‘Good’ and of our ‘Evil.’”

The philosopher asserts that the more one seeks answers to questions, the more questions one uncovers. In the Preface, Nietzsche presents these questions and more about the nature, origin, and development of morality. Instead of accepting that there are inherently good virtues, such as honesty and bravery, Nietzsche emphasizes the importance of questioning everything. Instead of limiting his inquiry into what types of actions are “good” or “bad,” Nietzsche asks whether the construct of morality itself is a destructive force.

“‘Good’ was mistakenly identified, and thus sought in vain, for the judgement ‘Good’ did not originate among those to whom goodness was shown! Rather it has been the ‘good men’ themselves, that is, the noble, the powerful, those of high degree, the high-minded, who have felt that they themselves were good.”

Central to Nietzsche’s argument is the idea that good and evil, or badness, are both social constructs built upon the links between Morality and Power. He asserts that the creation of these categories was born out of the desire of the wealthier and powerful classes to distinguish themselves from others. Therefore, any conception of good was determined by what most benefited the rich and what adhered closest to the types of lives they wanted to live. Emphasizing virtues like humility, hard work, and patience ensured the docility and productivity of the masses.

“The concept of political superiority always resolves itself into the concept of psychological superiority when the higher caste is at the same time the priestly caste.”

In this passage, Nietzsche equates Morality and Power. Since the aristocracy held political sway and power, the qualities most closely associated with them soon developed a sense of moral rightness. The relationship between nobility and the Church solidified these values into religious practice. Therefore, the qualities of the nobility—strength, ambition, wealth—were seen as morally superior to the qualities of lower socioeconomic groups.

“The Church certainly is a crude and boorish institution, one that is repugnant to an intelligence with any pretense at refinement, and offensive to the genuinely modern taste.”

Throughout the work, Nietzsche employs strong language to denounce religion and contemporary morality, decrying Ascetic Ideals and the Priest. The philosopher feels that religion’s influence has severely affected the lives of those who believe. He views religion as life-denying. Nietzsche asserts that Christianity gives people the illusion of accomplishment and joy while securing them in their oppression and self-denial.

“The slaves’ revolt in morality begins when resentment itself becomes creative and gives birth to values—a resentment experienced by those who, deprived as they are of the proper outlet of action, are forced to obtain their satisfaction in imaginary acts of vengeance.”

“Slave morality” (See: Index of Terms) marks a distinct shift in human history. The connection between Morality and Power meant that qualities associated with nobility were viewed as morally good, while qualities associated with poverty were considered morally bad. As oppressed people began to resent the upper classes, they formed their own set of values. “Slave morality” gave oppressed people the opportunity to view themselves in a superior light to their wealthy counterparts. Suddenly, they were morally better than the nobility, living according to God’s values: meekness, compassion, kindness, humility. Each decision to live according to self-discipline and self-denial was an act of retaliation against a system that praised strength and power.

“‘Who is really evil according to the morality of resentment?’ Let it be answered thus: it is precisely the ‘good men’ of the other morality, the aristocrats, the powerful, the rulers.”

Nietzsche explains how the link between socioeconomics and morality split morality into two types. Aristocratic morality (See: Index of Terms), or “master morality,” held its own set of rules, independent from the code of “slave morality.” Therefore, each group looked upon the other as innately “bad.” However, Nietzsche argues that the two types of morality serve one another: “Slave morality” ensures compliance, while aristocratic morality supports and shapes the Church through which “slave morality” is developed.

“To demand of strength that it should not express itself as strength, that it should not be a wish to overpower, a wish to conquer, a wish to become master, a lust for enemies, resistance and triumphs, is just as absurd as to require of weakness that it should express itself as strength.”

One of the key components of Nietzsche’s work is the idea that power is inevitable. Nietzsche argues that it would be futile to fight against power itself. It is a fundamental part of human nature; it simply is. This is what makes “slave morality” the natural response to aristocratic morality. Instead of pushing back against the power of the nobility, “slave morality” turns the eye inward. Individuals feel an obligation to refine their own actions and thoughts, exerting power in the only direction they can: toward themselves. As shown in the theme of Ascetic Ideals and the Priest, the Church plays a powerful role in ensuring the livelihood of this convenient system of values.

“Will anyone look a little into—down into—the mystery of how ideals are made on earth? Who is bold enough to do it? Come forward!”

Nietzsche recognized that his ideas in On the Genealogy of Morals were controversial and may even put him into danger. He also believed in living according to his own set of values, which he claimed was the distinguishing characteristic of The Free, Untamed Man. Nietzsche spoke boldly about what he perceived to be the flaws of morality because he believed that he understood the history of how moral ideas came into fruition. His genealogical study attempted to unearth the history and context of ideas and beliefs rather than build a framework of philosophy upon them.

“Yes, eternal life is necessary to receive eternal recompense, a reward for that earthly life ‘in faith,’ ‘in love,’ ‘in hope.’ Recompense for what? Recompense by what means?”

In this section of the first essay, Nietzsche points to a Christian principle that living a life of poverty, humility, patience, and meekness is said to reap eternal rewards. He cites “the kingdom of God” as the hope of eternal bliss that leads people to adhere to Ascetic Ideals and the Priest. According to Nietzsche, belief in heaven is another mechanism of power to ensure those in lower classes maintain values which uphold aristocratic society. By believing they will receive a reward in the afterlife, they are willing to endure unsatisfactory and impoverished lives in the present. Meanwhile, wealthier classes reap the reward of their morality in the present moment, benefiting from a docile and peaceful working class.

“The ‘free’ man, the possessor of unwavering determination, unbreakable will, finds therein his standard of value.”

This quotation exemplifies what Nietzsche feels is the quality of the sovereign individual, or The Free, Untamed Man. This person rejects accepted ideals about morality and asceticism. Instead of operating according to “bad conscience,” which emphasizes guilt and fear, the sovereign individual listens to a “good conscience,” one that affirms the right way to live. The choices of the sovereign individual are based upon the person’s unique ideas and senses of pleasure. Once this system of values is established, the sovereign individual must do everything possible to adhere to it.

“Punishment was inflicted then for the same reason that parents punish their children now, out of anger at an injury that they have suffered.”

Nietzsche’s view of punishment is unique. After explaining the role of punishment in the relationship between creditor and debtor, Nietzsche denies the notion that punishment is about what is deserved or what is owed. Instead, he proposes that punishment is about retaliation. The community retaliates against a criminal through punishment; the action of punishment is a reaction of personal pain and an expression of pleasure.

“The creditor is granted by way of repayment and compensation a certain pleasure, a sense of satisfaction—the satisfaction of being able to wield, without a scruple, his power over one who is powerless.”

Again, the reader is introduced to the association between Morality and Power. Nietzsche asserts that there is a level of pleasure to be achieved from administering power over others. Punishment is just one example of this exertion of power. The reason punishment is so prevalent is that it gives individuals access to a pleasure that has otherwise been denied them within Christian morality. As Nietzsche sees power as an inherent part of the human condition, he proposes that power is always accompanied with a level of pleasure.

“We find the crucible of moral concepts such as guilt, ‘conscience,’ ‘duty,’ the ‘sacredness of duty’—their beginnings, like the beginnings of all great things in this world, are drenched with blood, through and through.”

Nietzsche proposes that there is no such thing as a good quality or virtue. Any concepts of virtues have always found their origins in the “bad.” What makes these qualities remain in a system of cultural norms is their association with wealth and power. These ideas serve nobility; when the masses live according to guilt and duty, they are productive and self-governing. This enables the aristocracy to continue to amass wealth with little fear of revolt.

“Life got to learn the trick, which has become part of its stock-in-trade, the trick of self-justification, of the justification of its ‘evil.’”

Nietzsche explains that “slave morality” is a way of justifying and rationalizing the immense suffering and socioeconomic divide of contemporary life. Morality repackages “evil” as a holy and purposeful endeavor. People who believe in religious morality believe that their choices contribute to a greater good and secure for them eternal rewards. Nietzsche proposes that this is an element of the natural development of humankind. Since power is inevitable and life is meaningless suffering, power initiated a system of values that mitigated the despair of human existence.

“As the power and the self-knowledge of a community increases, the penal code in turn becomes proportionately more lenient.”

This passage provides another context to the theme Morality and Power. In this section, Nietzsche examines the associations between punishment, power, and the community. He explains that the evolution of the community was born out of the relationship between creditor and debtor, which emerged in ancient humans when consciousness endowed a sense of responsibility. Just as humans feel they owe each other a debt, humans feel a sense of duty and obligation to the community. When this sense of duty is violated, the community reacts through punishment. Power plays an important role in punishment. If a community feels powerful, it feels less threatened. Nietzsche argues that punishment is always about a feeling of personal retaliation. If the community does not feel vulnerable, it is less likely to find the action painful enough to warrant a strong reaction.

“Punishment hardens and numbs, it produces concentration, it sharpens the feeling of alienation, it hardens resistance.”

Here, Nietzsche shows how punishment and memory are intrinsically linked. Punishment helps solidify the memory of pain associated with an action. This ensures that the same action will not be repeated in the future. The philosopher admonishes this form of conscience as one that influences actions based on fear and guilt—what Nietzsche considers the opposite of “good conscience,” which utilizes affirmation and pleasure.

“But in the very fact that the ascetic ideal has meant so much to Man, there is expressed the fundamental feature of Man’s will, his horror vacui: he needs a goal—and he will rather desire oblivion than not desire at all.”

Nietzsche, who is often associated with nihilism, reminds readers that life is meaningless. He claims that this is the harsh, but real, truth about human existence. However, he argues that it is the nature of humankind to have purpose and meaning. Religion, as explained in Ascetic Ideals and the Priest, fills the void of futility. Nietzsche explains that humans will always create systems of desire and morality rather than live a life without them.

“Our modern life is pure hubris and godlessness in so far as it is power and the consciousness of power.”

In this quotation, Nietzsche reiterates the link between Morality and Power. He argues that life is all about power and pride. When he discusses ascetic ideals in the third essay, he proposes that the rejection of sensuality found in asceticism always manifests as pride and power. This, he claims, is part of what makes asceticism so appealing. There is a sense of smug superiority and power that comes from a life of self-discipline and self-denial.

“Everyone who has ever built a ‘new heaven’ found the power for it only in his own hell.”

This idea, central to Nietzsche’s genealogical work, suggests that all ideas and aspects of human life were derived from violent beginnings. Nietzsche explains that “slave morality” is an act of resentment and retaliation; the heavenly reward toward which the lower classes strive is an aspirational mirage rendered by their own illness and suffering.

“For an ascetic life is a self-contradiction; here resentment without equal prevails.”

Nietzsche’s critique of Ascetic Ideals and the Priest mirrors his criticism of “slave morality.” In both, Nietzsche argues that resentment is the catalyst. “Slave morality” and ascetic ideals emerge when individuals examine the current structures of morality and resent their own position within them. Both “slave morality” and ascetic ideals turn the eye inward, causing the individual to examine his own shortcomings and enforce a network of values and actions that stand in contrast to the socially accepted moral systems. Rather than blaming the wealthy for hoarding money and causing suffering, “slave morality” demands peacefulness and humility of the self. Instead of embracing the extravagance of a lifestyle that has been denied him, the ascetic individual increases and praises poverty and isolation.

“You understand me already; this ascetic priest, this apparent enemy of life, this denier—he is among the vital conserving and affirming forces.”

Nietzsche recognizes that the Church played a significant role in the protection and satisfaction of the lower classes. The philosopher uses the Biblical analogy of a flock and a shepherd to further illustrate this idea. The priest is the shepherd, caring for a herd of sick and suffering sheep. The priest lives among them and believes what they believe, but he also enjoys the privilege and wealth that comes from his position of power. He provides pleasure and affirmation through the development of community and a moral code which demands compassion and generosity. This connects to the theme of Ascetic Ideals and the Priest.

“The fact that anyone feels ‘guilty’ or ‘sinful’ is certainly no more proof that he is justified in feeling so, than feeling healthy is proof that one is healthy.”

Like morality, Nietzsche views the emotion of “guilt” as a social construct, one that emerged when humans developed a sense of obligation over choices they made about their own futures and the futures of others. He rejects the idea that, because one feels something, the source of that emotion must be real, further clarifying his argument against utilitarianism.

“Life itself became very interesting again, awake, eternally awake, sleepless, glowing yet burned up, exhausted yet not weary—such was the man, ‘the sinner,’ who was initiated into these mysteries.”

Here, Nietzsche exposes how religion entices individuals away from the reality of a meaningless existence. He argues that humans feel a sense of despair when faced with the futility of life, because humans have an innate need to desire and strive. Religion gives life interest, it engages humans in the process of aspiration and the enticement of drama. By contrast, The Free, Untamed Man is one who finds enjoyment in life despite its meaningless and develops for himself his own set of values and ideals.