Introduction by Robert C. Holub
In the introduction Holub explains that On the Genealogy of Morals was Nietzsche’s first return to essay form in over a decade. Holub thankfully goes through a broader introduction to what each essay covers and the approach that you should take when reading Nietzsche. Namely, that the reader should ruminate on Nietzsche’s words, and go back over and over and think deeply until understanding is reached. Nietzsche didn’t care if people didn’t understand his work the first time, and believed that people had to go through the same experiences that he had in order to really internalize and understand the aphorisms that he speaks about.
Holub also gives helpful context about the states of life Nietzsche was in when he wrote this, and his circumstances growing up and relationships with religion. There are multiple references to priests, religion, race, class systems. He also introduces the idea of good and evil, “herd” and slave morality.
Nietzsche dared to explore uncomfortable truths about our complex and often contradictory psychology, but whether his genealogy makes sense to his readers depends chiefly on our acceptance of his assumptions about human nature.
Nietzsche’s psychological assumptions are foregrounded in the initial essay of the Genealogy, in which he distinguishes between two value systems. The first and more original of the two systems is captured in the terms ‘good’ and ‘bad’… he identifies instead the original sense of ‘good’ with the term ‘noble’, claiming that ‘good’ in older societies is the self-designation of an aristocratic caste. ‘Bad’ is the aristocratic term for the non-noble segments of a given social order, those that are ‘common’, ‘plebeian’ or ‘low’. In this system of values ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are not opposites: the noble class considers itself ‘good’ out of self-affirmation, and anyone who does not possess the same social status simply belongs to another realm.
I’m thankful for Holub’s intro, because Nietzsche can often be misunderstood/misconstrued in harmful ways. Now having said that, I’m not entirely confident that I will understand this book on first reading.. nevertheless, away we go.
On the Genealogy of Morals: A Polemic
Preface
It’s immediately clear that Nietzsche is in part promoting his other works. He starts off with suggesting us to read Human, all too Human. But he also says that he has sat with his opinions on morals for many years, and as a result they should be strong. He goes on to talk about from a young age and growing up with a Christian father, he questioned the origins of “good” and “evil”. Eventually, this question turned into: “under what conditions did man invent himself those judgments of value, Good and Evil? And what intrinsic value do they posses in themselves?” (Nietzsche). He continues to delve into how he started thinking about morality, and he confronts his teacher Schopenhauer and the value of altruism. From here he forms his opinion that the morality of pity is a sinister symptom of European culture and led to the rise of nihilism. He talks about how pity spreads almost like a disease.
No one has, up to the present, expressed the slightest doubt or hesitation in judging the ‘good man’ to be of a higher value than the ‘evil man’ - Nietzsche
He introduces that this work is about examining the value of morality itself, and as of yet no one has ventured to do so. In the final bit of his preface, he states that if anyone reading doesn’t understand his book, it’s not his fault. That they should read and re-read his writings until they understand, they should ruminate on it.