Like most of Nietzsche’s book titles, Beyond Good and Evil is both provocative and memorable.
In this video I will talk about three things.
First, the context of the book, second, the title and its possible meanings, and third,
a warning from Nietzsche translator Walter Kaufmann.
At the end of the video I will recommend parts and sections to focus on reading if you’re
pressed for time.
My first point is context.
Beyond Good and Evil was published in 1886.
It was Nietzsche’s first book after completing his long philosophical novel Thus Spake Zarathustra,
and it attempts to express his teachings in a non-symbolic, non-mythological style.
It was the first of seven works Nietzsche produced in the final three years of his writing life.
It was followed by On the Genealogy of Morals in 1887, then the rush of five books he produced
in 1888, the year of his mental collapse.
We should read Beyond Good and Evil carefully, as a whole work, not wrenching fragments out
of context.
And if possible we should see it in relation to his expression of similar ideas in Zarathustra
and in his later works.
My second point is the title, Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future.
On first glance, we see that the title speaks of good and evil as a pair.
Also, they are something that can, should, or must be gone beyond, in some fashion.
Going beyond here may mean going past, or through, or leaving behind as no longer necessary.
Somehow the categories good and evil are or will be no longer relevant.
This suggests something revolutionary in morality.
We shall see just what Nietzsche proposes in the book itself.
The subtitle, Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, suggests that this book is an introduction
to or preparation for Nietzsche’s larger project.
And that project is a philosophy of the future, one that breaks with the past, especially
with the systematic philosophies of Kant and Hegel, and the otherworldly systems of Plato
and Christianity.
My third point is a warning.
Nietzsche’s translator Walter Kaufmann warns us against reading the title in a shallow way.
In a footnote to section 250 of this book, Kaufmann gives us his view of the title.
Nietzsche, he says, does not place himself beyond good and evil, like Raskolikov, or
like the villains from Hitchcock’s movie Rope.
He goes beyond the simple-minded faith in opposed value pairs, the idea that good & evil
are polar opposites that should structure our moral judgments.
Instead, Nietzsche offers us a subtler psychology of morals, in which what we have called good
and evil flow from more fundamental biological drives.
Kaufmann writes: “…the whole book represents an effort to rise ‘beyond’ simpleminded
agreement and disagreement, beyond the vulgar faith in antithetic values, ‘beyond good
and evil.’
The point of the title is not that the author considers himself beyond good and evil in
the crudest sense, but it is in part that he is beyond saying such silly things as ‘the
Jews are good’ or ‘the Jews are evil’; or ‘free spirits’ or ‘scholars’ or
‘virtues’ or ‘honesty’ or ‘humaneness’ are ‘good’ or ‘evil.’
Everywhere he introduces distinctions, etching first one type and then another—both generally
confounded under a single label.
He asks us to shift perspectives, or to perceive hues and gradations instead of simple black
and white.
This has led superficial readers to suppose that he contradicts himself or that he never
embraces any meaningful conclusions…”
Now, I agree with Kaufmann that we should be wary of accepting the easy and obvious
meaning of the title.
Nietzsche is an ironist, and in every element of his work we should be on the lookout for
internal tensions and layers of meaning.
Perhaps Nietzsche thinks the Overman is beyond the categories of slave morality.
And even if we disagree with him on this point, perhaps in considering and rejecting his proposal,
we, his readers, rise beyond good and evil ourselves.
My last point is advice on which sections to read if you are in a hurry.
Beyond Good and Evil is divided by Nietzsche into nine Parts, containing 296 consecutively
numbered sections.
If you are pressed for time, read Parts One, Five, and Nine.
That’s about 85 pages, or a third of the book.
While you will not get the full effect of the work, you will cover its most important
ideas and arguments.
If you are even more pressed for time, read sections 257-260, at the beginning of Part Nine.
These are about seven pages total, and include what I think are the most important passages
in the book.
While Kaufmann is correct that you should not read Nietzsche out of context, I think
you would benefit from reading his explanations of master morality and slave morality, rather
than reading nothing. But again: please read the whole work!
That wraps up this quick look at the context and title of Beyond Good and Evil.
Thanks for watching today; goodbye.