FREDERICH NIETZSCHE, BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

AND GAY SCIENCE

November , 2019Challenges to Morality

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POP Quiz # 12:

31-33) 3 Marks (ALL-OR-NOTHING) Book Check!

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QUESTIONS

PAPER WRITING?

or

PAPER TOPICS?

PLATO: WHY BE JUST?

UTILITARIANISM: BOLSTERS AND KNOCKERS

FAMINE: A KANTIAN AND A LIBERTARIAN WALK INTO A BAR AND DISCUSS FAMINE RELIEF

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DISCLAIMER

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

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PREAMBLE

SYMPTOMS OF READING NIETZSCHE

Confusion

Disorientation

Contempt

Curiosity

Bewilderment

Exhilaration

Invigoration

Or a general sense of “WHAT THE FORK JUST HAPPENED?”5

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PREAMBLE

Nietzsche as an incisive critic of “systematic philosophy”

Unusual argumentative style — metaphor, poetry, aphorism [pity observation, contains general truth]

TL;DR — conventional “morality” tool of the weak; strong are “beyond good and evil”

CHALLENGE: Why be moral, if morality is a form of indoctrination into “the herd” and denies life?

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ON THE GENEALOGY OF MORALS

Critique of morality through a genealogical analysis

Value/worth of “values” taken as given, beyond dispute

Calling conventional values into question

What if… morality is harmful, stifling, and prevents humans from achieving greatness / possibilities?

§ 6 READ

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LOUIS CK ON HUMAN GREATNESS

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BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

Enhancement/cultural advancement has always been the product of aristocratic society

End/purpose of aristocracy + society is to create the foundation / scaffolding for a higher state of being

TWO TYPES OF INDIVIDUALS

a) Higher Individuals i) Creative Genius ii) Higher Humans

b) The Herd [mediocre masses]

“[The modern] individual focuses too narrowly on his own short lifespan…and wants to pluck the fruit himself from the trees he plants, and so no long likes to plant those tress that demand a century of constant tending and are intended to provide shade for long successions of generations.” —— Nietzsche, HUMAN ALL TOO HUMAN § 22

§ 257 and 258 READ

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BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

Conventional morality as “good manners” among equals [e.g., among the equally weak; or the equally strong]

If made fundamental principle for society = denial of life

§ 259 READ Essence of life is to overcome, dominate, appropriate

Will to power — neither moral nor immoral — natural

“Exploitation” — not corruption — organic

§ 259 READ

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BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

MASTER AND SLAVE MORALITIES

Master morality as “Beyond Good and Evil”

- Good = Noble - Bad = Contemptible

§ 260 READ

- Purpose is fulfillment of human greatness

- Narrow-minded focus on achieving excellence; no time to pity “the herd”

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BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

MASTER AND SLAVE MORALITIES

Slave morality as a condemnation of human beings (specifically, human excellence)

Skeptical of the powerful — happiness of powerful not genuine [the meek shall inherit the earth]

§ 260 READ

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BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

Good = Submission; restraint; altruism, selflessness Evil = power, which is dangerous

Product of resentment among the weak (the herd) towards the strong/powerful

Good/evil constructed to serve interests of the weak

Selflessness/altruism not “good-in-themselves” -used as self-preservation against the strong/powerful

§ 260 READ

Self-loathing among ordinary people; disdain for the “good” of morality and longing for freedom

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GAY SCIENCE § 125

THE MADMAN.- Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours. ran to the market place. and cried incessantly: "I seek God! I seek God!" - As many of those who did not believe in God were standing around just then, he provoked much laughter. Has he got lost? asked one. Did he lose his way like a child? asked another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? emigrated? - Thus they yelled and laughed.

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GAY SCIENCE § 125The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. “Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him-you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward. sideward. forward. in all directions? Is there stilI any up or down? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it Dot become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods. too. decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.

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GAY SCIENCE § 125

"How shall we comfort ourselves. the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whoever is born after us-for the sake of this deed he will belong to a higher history than all history hitherto."

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GAY SCIENCE

Denial of a transcendent purpose / meaning to life

World has no value in-itself - nature is value-less

Values are created and constructed by powerful individuals; not discovered (QUA Plato’s cave; Religion)

TAKE HOME LESSON

LIFE-AFFIRMING PHILOSOPHY; create your own meaning, purpose and value in life

§ 304 READ17

§ 301 READ

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GAY SCIENCE

Ethical views that emphasize the prevention and alleviation of pain and suffering are mistaken

Suffering essential to achieving excellent — therefore belongs as part of true happiness

Absence of suffering = comfortableness Comfortableness = resignation; no drive; stale

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§ 338 READ

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NEXT LECTURE

Sharon Street,

“Does Anything Really Matter or Did We Just Evolve to Think So?”

(pp. 904-912)

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