Ressentiment

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s book On the Genealogy of Morals covers three different themes in its text. The first topic is morality. The second topic is punishment. The third topic is power. Based off of these topics there are different arguments that stem from them. First in morality Nietzsche argues that there is a slave revolt that means to change ones perception of what is or is not good. Second in the punishment theme Nietzsche argues that there are various kinds of…

I want to start off by saying that Friedrich Nietzsche was one of the more complicated philosophers that I ever had pleasure of studying. What I took away from Friedrich Nietzsche opinions on the death of God is that he was referring to the declining belief and respect for God or religion in general. Nietzsche felt that with the loss of religion the west would lose its distinctive cultural identity. Friedrich Nietzsche was not a big fan of Christianity to say the least, but he still understood…

As Nietzsche begins the preface on the Genalogy of Morals it seems he saying philosophers are not men of knowledge. However, their job is find knowledge. He goes on to introduce the subject matter of the essay, “the origin of our moral prejudices.” Prior to the Genealogy of Morals, he had also written a book title Human. In this book a lot the same thoughts appear as in the Genealogy of Morals, and he is hoping over time these thought have become clearer. Nietzsche states he has pondered for a…

Paul Gauguin, a famous painter of his time, quit his job so that he could have more focus to pursue his artistic career. Not only did he quit his job, he left his wife and five children to travel to Tahiti and immerse himself in the culture. While he found great success in his endeavors, inspiring many other artists and solidifying himself as one of the most prominent artists of all time, he did not know that things would turn out this way. In this paper I will be drawing on John Stuart Mill and…

Both Jean Paul-Sartre and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered as existentialists whose philosophies share some important characteristics. Although Sartre illustrates how to make a truly moral decision, and Nietzsche presents how to become a true individual, they both make an attempt to replace traditional morality with their belief of authenticity. “You’re free, choose, that is, invent” said Sartre, showing his idea on how he thinks we should make decisions. In this essay, I will compare the…

The disputation of March 11, focused on the philosophical work of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Nietzsche was a German philosopher who lived from 1844-1900. In his work, Nietzsche had two major contributions to the field of philosophy. The first was his theory on the death of God. This theory was first published during Nietzsche’s early philosophical career. His second theory was that on good and evil. This was published in his work titled On the Genealogy of Morality, First Essay. This…

“Friedrich Nietzsche on Master and Slave Morality,” an explication by Dr. John Armstrong, explains Friedrich Nietzsche's view on morality that argues Slave Morality is created to restrict “superior” people. To achieve such a claim, Armstrong compares and explains Master Morality and Slave Morality, and he further reveals the flaws of Slave Morality, “[the] artificial boundaries that constrain the strong from reaching their full potential” (5). Opening his analysis, Armstrong chronicles the…

In his work “Beyond Good and Evil”, Nietzsche argues that the concept of “good” and “evil” are initially designated by those individuals with the political and social power to live their lives by sheer will (master morality abiders) whist the others who lack this force are doomed to be subjected to their power (slave morality abiders) until eventually the latter overthrows their masters. One of the main themes Nietzsche formulates in this work is that ancient Roman society was grounded in master…

In his essay Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche suggests that there are two types of morality: master morality and slave morality. Slave morality values virtues like humility, sympathy and kindness. Slave morality sees opposite with noble man, who conceives ‘good’ in advance and spontaneity: the ‘bad’ and ‘evil’ originates from noble man arising out of insatiable hatred. This is the essential act of conception of slave morality (Friedrich Nietzsche sec. 11). Slave revolt in morality begins with…

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” Friedrich Nietzsche encapsulates the paradox of humankind — a desperate desire to save the world coupled with a dangerous susceptibility to becoming the very monster to be slain. Man’s ability to rationalize allows him to rebuff the guilt over his most treacherous decisions, but the guilt remains, pilfering away at his faith in…