Analysis Of Beyond Good And Evil By Friedrich Nietzsche

In 1886, Friedrich Nietzsche published his book Beyond Good and Evil in Germany, a work in which he implies his criticism of dogmatism while simultaneously emphasizing the need for one to adopt his own moral code. I believe he published his book not only for past philosophers, but for the middle class as well. He states, “the gregarious European man nowadays assumes an air as if he were the only kind of man allowable” (Nietzsche, 121). With this statement, I believe Nietzsche targets past philosophers and criticizes their personal psychological approaches as ones used to support their own moral biases. He does not believe that science should have a bearing on a person’s morality, but these philosophers developed their scientific methods as a way to support the basis of their personal morality, thus allowing them to classify those who opposed them as evil and immoral. Similarly, I believe Nietzsche aims to persuade the middle class to stray from traditional moral codes such as ones …show more content…
From a cultural standpoint, he opposed August Comte’s theory of positivism. Comte believed that using scientific methods would reveal constant social laws; however, Nietzsche passionately disagreed, for he believed that society was consistently changing, and therefore, an absolute truth could never be found. Comte’s theory is one that exhibits the dogmatism that Niezsche harshly criticized (Hunt, 791). Because something may be applicable now does not mean it will be as early as tomorrow. His opposition of positivism influenced his writing of Beyond Good and Evil, for he criticized the belief of inherent ideas, something he addressed in his book. He wanted this criticism to reach past philosophers such as Comte, as well as those who may have been influenced by his and others’ dogmatic and/or traditional ideas, in an effort to convince them to reexamine their morality and define it with their own beliefs rather than