During the past few months, references to Friedrich Nietzsche have been popping up more and more frequently. Motivated by this, I decided to finally read a book by Nietzsche rather than only reading summaries or comments by others. As a very first Nietzsche book, his Genealogy of Morals was not an ideal choice because it assumes that the reader was already familiar with his Beyond Good and Evil and Zarathustra books and had actually carefully studied Nietzsche’s earlier works. Because I had already purchased the book when I discovered this, I decided to continue reading.

This translation by Walter Kaufmann is wonderful. In addition to this work by Nietzsche, he had also done the translations for the Viking Portable edition. This edition also includes very useful footnotes, translating the many French and Latin phrases in the text, providing background on the obscure 19th century people referenced by Nietzsche, and explaining many of Nietzsche’s own references to his previous works. Particularly useful were the many explanations of the translation choices that needed to be made. These were useful for understanding Nietzsche’s actual meanings.

My comments below are not really a review; instead, they are a collection of my impressions from reading Nietzsche for the very first time. It was easy to see why Nietzsche became so popular. Although his sentences are overly long and discursive, his prose style is vivid, dramatic, and provocative attacks on received wisdom. His works are perfect to discuss in cafes over a few bottles of wine. Nietzsche also invites his readers to feel superior to the weak masses of people.

The Genealogy of Morals is divided into three essays. The first essay begins by asking when did “good” become good and when did “evil” become bad? What is the value of morality and how did our moral sense come to be were fascinating questions and I found myself very much looking forward to hear what Nietzsche had to say. He comments disparagingly on a recent book by and English philosopher and criticizes it as being pure speculation with no real evidence cited.

Nietzsche’s own evidence is not impressive. His main argument is an etymological one based upon the Greek, Latin, Syrian and Slavic words for these terms. Another weakness is that his arguments are almost exclusively European-centric despite a few Buddhistic references. His analysis is therefore not very universal and does not consider any anthropological evidence at all. This is in comparison to earlier 18th century philosophers whose own ideas were challenged by European encounters with the Indians in America as well as the peoples in eastern Asia.

Although many critics of Nietzsche speak about his antisemitism, this book has harsher criticisms of Christianity and the Church than of the Jewish people. Nietzsche is particularly upset by the message of the Beatitudes where Christians were taught that “blessed are the meek.” He feels that making to meek, the poor, and the lowly blessed allows the lowly to consider themselves more pious and therefore better than people that are more powerful. He is offended that the Church has allowed the “morality of the common man” to have won. He says that “the diminution and leveling of European man constitutes our greatest danger.” Surprisingly, in this book, Nietzsche criticizes antisemites, Germans and Nationalists.

The second essay deals with the origins of “guilt.” He begins by praising the virtue of forgetfulness as the opposite of guilt and something healthy for people. Cruelty is even seen as useful and revenge as something everyone longs for as part of their sense of justice. One etymological argument in this section, the relation of the German words for “Schulden” as both debt and guilt, were first encountered in Gerber’s book Debt: The First 5000 Years.” Suffering is seen as a way to balance out debts. Nietzsche claims that the imposition of suffering was a festive event for communities. He says that “in the days when mankind was not yet ashamed of its cruelty, life on earth was more cheerful than it is now. “

Nietzsche claims that people feeling in debt to a deity allows religion “to drive his self-torture to its most gruesome pitch of severity and rigor.” This allows him to deal with the ascetic and pious ideals in his third essay. He is particularly outraged by Wagner’s Parsifal since Wagner makes Parsifal such a wimp. Similarly, he also sees the ascetic priest as the “enemy of life” because they herd together the weak.

The book concludes with a separate book, Ecce Homo, which Nietzsche finished just a few weeks before he went totally insane. Although the translator treasures the book because of the insights it provides to Nietzsche’s thinking about his various books, I found the absolute narcissism of the writing to be totally annoying. In addition to comments on his own books, Nietzsche provides comments on what has made him so clever. This chapter explains the effects of having the right climate, which he never found in Germany, as well as the correct diet. This gives him a chance to go on at length about his intestines.

In summary, the book is thought provoking but not very convincing. It left me curious enough to want to read some of his other books but not curious enough to put aside the hundreds of other books on my To Be Read list. ( )

Ecce Homo only ( )

Soaring ideas brilliantly expressed. Ideas that must be understood if only to properly refute them. ( )

12/5/21

"A reader is doubly guilty of bad manners against the author when he praises the second book at the expense of the first ( or vice versa ) and then asks the author to be grateful for that.
The worst readers. --- The worst readers are those who proceed like plundering soldiers: they pick up a few things they can use, soil and confuse the rest, and blaspheme the whole.
Value of honest books. --- Honest books make the reader honest, at least by luring into the open his hatred and aversion which his sly prudence otherwise knows how to conceal best. But against a book one lets oneself go, even if one is very reserved toward people." Nietzsche said it best with these remarks and more. ( )