Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Beyond Good and Evil by Beyond Good and Evil. Beyond Good and Evil is a comprehensive overview of Nietzsche's mature philosophy. The book consists of 296 aphorisms, ranging in length from a few sentences to a few pages. These aphorisms are grouped thematically into nine different chapters and are bookended by a preface and a poem. While each aphorism can stand on its own, there is also something of a linear progression between aphorisms within chapters and from one chapter to another. Nonetheless, each aphorism presents a distinctive point of view, and even the individual chapter summaries omit a great deal. The preface accuses philosophers of dogmatism, and the first chapter explores this claim. Every great philosophy, Nietzsche asserts, is little more than the personal confession. Philosophers build up complex systems of thought to justify their own assumptions and prejudices. If we can dig these out, we can see what these philosophers value most deeply, and so gain insight into their character. Nietzsche contrasts their dogmatism with the "free spirit" that is not caught up in a particular point of view. He hopes the philosophers of the future will be characterized by such an experimental method, willing to try out any hypothesis, and follow any argument all the way to its conclusion. After a discussion of the religious spirit, which he claims is a kind of dogmatism, Nietzsche embarks on a series of epigrams, most of which highlight our bizarre psychological make-up. Next, he looks at the long history of moral systems as a set of different attempts at self- overcoming. He speaks out strongly against the morality of the "herd" that encourages a dull mediocrity in all. He finds such a mediocrity in modern scholarship, which is overly concerned with digging up dry, dull facts. Nietzsche's ideal philosopher creates meaning and values, and does not simply deal with empty facts. Nietzsche asserts that there is an "order of rank" according to which the spiritual strength of all people can be measured. Because of this difference between people, it would be absurd to apply one moral code to all people. Nietzsche suggests that the strongest people are marked by a cruelty to themselves, according to which they mercilessly expose their every prejudice and assumption in order to dig more deeply into themselves. At bottom, however, everyone has prejudices. To prove this point, Nietzsche launches an eight-page tirade against women. Next, he addresses the question of nationalities and nationalism, drawing on a kind of Lamarckism that sees different nationalities or "races" as inherently having certain characteristics. Among other things, Nietzsche attacks anti- Semitism, criticizes the English, and advances the concept of the "good European," who rises above nationalist sentiment to find true individuality. The final chapter presents Nietzsche's conception of "what is noble": a solitary, suffering soul, who has risen so far above the common rabble as to be unrecognizable and totally misunderstood by them. He closes the book with a weak poem about such a noble soul sitting on a mountaintop wishing he had more friends. Beyond Good and Evil. An understanding of Nietzsche's work as a whole relies on a solid grasp of his views on truth and language, and his metaphysics and conception of the will to power. At the very bottom of Nietzsche's philosophy lies the conviction that the universe is in a constant state of change, and his hatred and disparagement of almost any position can be traced back to that position's temptation to look at the universe as fixed in one place. Nietzsche is skeptical of both language and "truth" because they are liable to adopt a fixed perspective toward things. Words, unlike thoughts, are fixed. Our thoughts can flow and change just as things in the universe flow and change, but a word, once uttered, cannot be changed. Because language has this tendency toward fixity, it expresses the world in terms of facts and things, which has led philosophers to think of the world as fixed rather than fluid. A world of rigid facts can be spoken about definitively, which is the source of our conception of truth and other absolutes, such as God and morality. Nietzsche sees the facts and things of traditional philosophy as far from rigid, and subject to all sorts of shifts and changes. He is particularly brilliant in analyzing morality, showing how our concept of "good," for instance, has had opposite meanings at different times. The underlying force driving all change is will, according to Nietzsche. In specific, all drives boil down to a will to power, a drive for freedom and domination over other things. The concept of "good" has had different meanings over time because different wills have come to appropriate the concept. Meaning and interpretation are merely signs that a will is operating on a concept. Because facts and things depend for their meaning on ever-shifting and struggling wills, there is no such thing as one correct or absolute viewpoint. Every viewpoint is the expression of some will or other. Rather than try to talk about the "truth," we should try to remain as flexible as possible, looking at matters from as many different perspectives as possible. Nietzsche's ideal "philosophy of the future" is one that is free enough to shift perspectives and overturn the "truths" and other dogmas of rigid thinking. Such philosophy would see moral concepts such as "good" and "evil" as merely surfaces that have no inherent meaning; such philosophy would thus move "beyond good and evil." Nietzsche's ideal philosophers would also turn their will to power inward, struggling constantly against themselves to overcome their own prejudices and assumptions. Nietzsche's unorthodox views on truth can help to explain his unusual style. Though we can follow trains of thought and make connections along the way, there is no single, linear argument that runs through the book. Because Nietzsche does not see the truth as a simple, two-dimensional picture, he cannot represent it accurately with a simple linear sketch. Nietzsche sees the world as complex and three-dimensional: more like a hologram than a two-dimensional picture. And just as a hologram is a three-dimensional image made up of infinitesimal two- dimensional fragments, each approximating the whole, Nietzsche presents his worldview in a series of two-dimensional aphorisms, each approximating a more complex worldview. Beyond Good and Evil is Nietzsche's perspectivism in practice: we can read every aphorism as one different perspective from which to look at Nietzsche's philosophy. There is some sort of line we can trace, moving from perspective to perspective, but essentially we end up with Nietzsche's philosophy in 9 big pieces and 296 smaller fragments. In this way, Nietzsche attempts to find the expression of his thoughts in language that best preserves their fluidity and three-dimensionality. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche Analytical Essay. Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most famous works by Friedrich Nietzsche, written in 1886. This work is a kind of analysis that wills certainly to truth. His ideas are “beyond good and evil”; they are much deeper, and this is why they are so attractive and correct to lots of readers. We will write a custom Essay on Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page. 301 certified writers online. This work helps to discover not only the truth as it is, but also men’s truth that is crucially important for the society. With the help of a deep analysis of self-perception and religious issues, the reader gets a wonderful opportunity to analyze the truth and its components, to comprehend why truth is so important, and to investigate all spheres of life taking into consideration various perspectives. Nietzsche was the only person who affirmed that “God is dead”. This statement appears in his several works. Even if Nietzsche did not concentrate on the idea of the dead God in his Beyond Good and Evil, that very thought is still considered to be present between the lines of the book, just expressed in other words. In order to comprehend whether Nietzsche kept to such an idea of the dead God in all his works, and Beyond Good and Evil in particular, it is better to analyze his original works, written in German, and grasp the major idea of translation and the reproduction of the thoughts, and only than start analyzing them. Friedrich Nietzsche is a German philosopher and writer, this is why it is necessary to underline that all his works were written in German and translated by other people in many languages in different ways. The point is that translated works may not represent the major idea that the original author had in mind. For example, in The Gay Science (in German, it sounds as Die fröhliche Wissenschaft),Nietzsche said that “God ist tot!” All writers translated this very idea literary, as “God is dead!” Maybe, it is one of their big mistakes to translate the words with such a serious meaning in a literary way, which can easily confuse the reader. Such translations make lots philosophers and Nietzsche’s followers in particular to think that Nietzsche was an atheist. However, it was not true. In spite of all facts, Nietzsche believed in God (if this were not true, he could hardly create his works and write about God and his role in every person’s life). If Nietzsche says that there is no God, it will make all his works and our life senseless. If God is already dead, he had to be alive some time. And if he was alive, there should be some reasons for his death. In The Gay Science, Nietzsche mentions that God is dead because “we” have killed him. (p. 120) The first question that appears in my who all those “we” – all people or philosophers only. But, in fact, is it possible to kill God? Hardly! This is why, it is crucially important to think once again how it can be true that God is dead. The German word tot may be also translated as obsolete or even no longer useful . Taking into account such meanings, it is possible to think that Nietzsche had another thought in mind that not the idea, which is know to lots of people. This is why it is possible to find out the similar ideas in Beyond Good and Evil. The major theme in Beyond Good and Evil is the exploration of truth regardless of numerous religious, social, and moral aspects. According to Nietzsche, every person is able to comprehend truth on a certain level. Unfortunately, each belief may be comprehended in different ways and even makes a person blindly faithful. Nietzsche underlines the fact that only men may understand and delve feels. Women are not able to complete the same task of the same level. Even more, Nietzsche scorns females from time to time. In Beyond Good and Evils, Nietzsche supposes that Truth itself is a woman, and lots of male philosophers have already tried to comprehend female nature and failed all their attempts. Female nature will never allow herself to be won by men. (p. 3) In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche also tells about Nihilism and its effect on the exploration of truth. The author tells that one of the possible reasons, which do not allow to comprehend everything clearly, is the idea of the old God. (p. 22) And this is what is so crucially important in order to answer the major question – if Nietzsche uses the idea of the dead God in Beyond Good and Evil. After we analyze, that the translations of the works by Nietzsche may not really correctly represent his ideas and intentions, and clear up that his idea of the dead God may be interpreted in English in several ways, we can surely say that Beyond Good and Evil is also one of the works, which are based on the Nietzsche’s idea that God is dead. In this work, he underlines that all humans are biological creatures, which are ruled by certain instincts. In order to live a full life, they need to will to power and truth, create their own values, live according to them, and do not take into consideration the principle of other people, who are not as strong as they are. Without any doubts, to hear about the death of God may shock lots of people. (Kuehls, 6) However, exactly such ideas attract the attention of many readers. Searching for truth is one of the most important things in the whole world. People spend lots of time in order to comprehend what is really truth and what is not. Friedrich Nietzsche created a wonderful work Beyond Good and Evil to help people and show them one of the possible ways in such kind of searching. He divides people according to their genders and points out why he makes such a choice. He grounds each his idea with the help of historically prevalent points of view and explain it to the reader. It is crucially important to comprehend all his words not literary, as it constricts the meaning he wants to represent. The death of God is the common idea for Nietzsche’s numerous works, and the reader should not accept it literary in order to understand that God’s death represents the crisis, people live in. In order to overcome this crisis, it is important to explore truth casting aside all moral, religious, and social principles. All people have the right of choice, and if their choice is to understand the truth of life, Nietzsche is eager to help them and show the right way. Works Cited. Kuehls, T. Beyond Sovereign Territory: the Space of Ecopolitics. U of Minnesota Press, 1996. Beyond Good and Evil. In contemporary Nietzschean scholarship, some interpreters have emphasized the will to power as a psychological principle because Nietzsche applies it m.. God is dead. (; also known as the death of God) is a widely quoted statement by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It first appears in Nietzsche's 1882 collecti.. Franz Overbeck Notes. 1. http://www.thenietzschechannel.com/correspondence/eng/nlett-1881.htm#november-14-1881 The Nietzsche Channel: Nietzsche's Letters: 1881. Friedrich Nietzsche's view of Søren Kierkegaard. REDIRECT Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. God is dead Further reading. Heidegger, Martin. Nietzsches Wort 'Gott ist tot (1943) translated as The Word of Nietzsche: 'God Is Dead,' in Holzwege, edited and translated by Julian.. This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Beyond Good and Evil", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share- Alike License 3.0. Friedrich Nietzsche. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Friedrich Nietzsche , (born October 15, 1844, Röcken, Saxony, Prussia []—died August 25, 1900, Weimar, Thuringian States), German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. His attempts to unmask the motives that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and philosophy deeply affected generations of theologians, philosophers, psychologists, poets, novelists, and playwrights. He thought through the consequences of the triumph of the Enlightenment’s secularism, expressed in his observation that “God is dead,” in a way that determined the agenda for many of Europe’s most-celebrated intellectuals after his death. Although he was an ardent foe of nationalism, anti-Semitism, and power politics, his name was later invoked by fascists to advance the very things he loathed. Why is Friedrich Nietzsche important? Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. His attempts to unmask the motives that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and philosophy deeply affected generations of theologians, philosophers, psychologists, poets, novelists, and playwrights. What was Friedrich Nietzsche’s childhood like? Friedrich Nietzsche’s home was a stronghold of Lutheran piety. His father, Carl Ludwig Nietzsche, was a pastor who died before Nietzsche’s fifth birthday. Friedrich spent most of his early life in a household consisting of five women: his mother, Franziska; his younger sister, Elisabeth; his maternal grandmother; and two aunts. Where did Friedrich Nietzsche study? In 1864 Friedrich Nietzsche went to the University of to study theology and classical philology. In 1865 he transferred to the University of . During the years at Leipzig, Nietzsche discovered Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy, met the great operatic composer Richard Wagner, and began his lifelong friendship with fellow classicist Erwin Rohde. What did Friedrich Nietzsche write? Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883–85) was the first thorough statement of Friedrich Nietzsche’s mature philosophy and the masterpiece of his career. It received little attention during his lifetime, but its influence since his death has been considerable in the arts as well as philosophy. Other works included Twilight of the Idols , The Antichrist , and Ecce Homo . Early years. Nietzsche’s home was a stronghold of Lutheran piety. His paternal grandfather had published books defending Protestantism and had achieved the ecclesiastical position of superintendent; his maternal grandfather was a country parson; his father, Carl Ludwig Nietzsche, was appointed pastor at Röcken by order of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, after whom Friedrich Nietzsche was named. His father died in 1849, before Nietzsche’s fifth birthday, and he spent most of his early life in a household consisting of five women: his mother, Franziska, his younger sister, Elisabeth, his maternal grandmother, and two aunts. In 1850 the family moved to Naumburg on the Saale River, where Nietzsche attended a private preparatory school, the Domgymnasium. In 1858 he was admitted to Schulpforta, Germany’s leading Protestant boarding school. He excelled academically and received an outstanding classical education there. Having graduated in 1864, he went to the University of Bonn to study theology and classical philology. Despite efforts to take part in the university’s social life, the two semesters at Bonn were a failure, owing chiefly to acrimonious quarrels between his two leading classics professors, Otto Jahn and Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl. Nietzsche sought refuge in music, writing a number of compositions strongly influenced by Robert Schumann, the German Romantic composer. In 1865 he transferred to the University of Leipzig, joining Ritschl, who had accepted an appointment there. Nietzsche prospered under Ritschl’s tutelage in Leipzig. He became the only student ever to publish in Ritschl’s journal, Rheinisches Museum (“Rhenish Museum”). He began military service in October 1867 in the cavalry company of an artillery regiment, sustained a serious chest injury while mounting a horse in March 1868, and resumed his studies in Leipzig in October 1868 while on extended sick leave from the military. During the years in Leipzig, Nietzsche discovered Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy, met the great operatic composer Richard Wagner, and began his lifelong friendship with fellow classicist Erwin Rohde (author of Psyche ). Basel years (1869–79) When a professorship in classical philology fell vacant in 1869 in Basel, Switzerland, Ritschl recommended Nietzsche with unparalleled praise. He had completed neither his doctoral thesis nor the additional dissertation required for a German degree; yet Ritschl assured the University of Basel that he had never seen anyone like Nietzsche in 40 years of teaching and that his talents were limitless. In 1869 the University of Leipzig conferred the doctorate without examination or dissertation on the strength of his published writings, and the University of Basel appointed him extraordinary professor of classical philology. The following year Nietzsche was promoted to ordinary professor. Nietzsche obtained a leave to serve as a volunteer medical orderly in August 1870, after the outbreak of the Franco-German War. Within a month, while accompanying a transport of wounded, he contracted dysentery and diphtheria, which ruined his health permanently. He returned to Basel in October to resume a heavy teaching load, but as early as 1871 ill health prompted him to seek relief from the stultifying chores of a professor of classical philology; he applied for the vacant chair of philosophy and proposed Rohde as his successor, all to no avail. During those early Basel years Nietzsche’s ambivalent friendship with Wagner ripened, and he seized every opportunity to visit Richard and his wife, Cosima. Wagner appreciated Nietzsche as a brilliant professorial apostle, but Wagner’s increasing exploitation of Christian motifs, as in Parsifal (1882), coupled with his chauvinism and anti-Semitism proved to be more than Nietzsche could bear. By 1878 the breach between the two men had become final. Nietzsche’s first book, Die Geburt der Tragödie aus dem Geiste der Musik (1872; The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music ), marked his emancipation from the trappings of classical scholarship. A speculative rather than exegetical work, it argued that Greek tragedy arose out of the fusion of what he termed Apollonian and Dionysian elements—the former representing measure, restraint, and harmony and the latter representing unbridled passion—and that Socratic rationalism and optimism spelled the death of Greek tragedy. The final 10 sections of the book are a rhapsody about the rebirth of tragedy from the spirit of Wagner’s music. Greeted by stony silence at first, it became the object of heated controversy on the part of those who mistook it for a conventional work of classical scholarship. It was undoubtedly “a work of profound imaginative insight, which left the scholarship of a generation toiling in the rear,” as the British classicist F.M. Cornford wrote in 1912. It remains a classic in the history of aesthetics to this day. Having requested and received a sick leave, Nietzsche in 1877 set up house with his sister and his friend Peter Gast (Johann Heinrich Köselitz), and in 1878 his aphoristic Menschliches, Allzumenschliches ( Human, All-Too-Human ) appeared. Because his health deteriorated steadily, he resigned his professorial chair on June 14, 1879, and was granted a pension of 3,000 Swiss francs per year for six years.