A genealogy of morals
by Friedrich Nietzsche · first published 1899
45% recommend55% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Its essays trace where moral ideas like guilt and punishment came from, contrasting Roman strength values with Judeo-Christian ones. Suits readers new to Nietzsche who want his prose and arguments.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Explores issues at the very core of human nature in three powerful essays. Here Nietzsche dissects the basic concepts of 'good', 'bad' and 'evil', going on to examine humankind's transformation from barbarous creatures into civilized beings who can feel remorse, regret, pity and compassion but, in the process, destroying instinct and freedom. Nietzsche asks why the virtues of poverty, humility and chastity have become so central to religion, even when they deny vitality and life itself. Daring to expose uncomfortable truths, this brilliant and provocative polemic provides startling insights in
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…theory about how society functions best. It was Nietzsche's great insight that internal considerations play a much larger role in constructing morality than external considerations. See, in particular, _On the Genealogy of Morals_ and _Beyond Good and Evil_. Nietzsche's first questions on encountering a morality were always: what "instincts" are active here? Does this ethic arise from a overwelling of strength and confidence,…
on “What You Can't Say” ↗The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus is extremely readable and a classic of modern nihilistic thought. I'd also recommend Nietzsche's The Genealogy of Morals. It's not his most famous work, but it's pretty widely acclaimed as his best.
on “Ask HN: Can anyone recommend some philosophy reading?” ↗'On the Genealogy of Morals' was the most coherent, accessible, and IMHO relevant text to out times, that Nietzsche ever produced.
on “Nietzsche’s Eternal Return” ↗…ball rolling faster): Ishmael (Daniel Quinn) 1984 (George Orwell) Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hofstadter) The Republic [imp. "the allegory of the cave"] (Plato) The Genealogy of Morals (Friedrich Nietzsche) The Social Construction of Reality (Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (L. Wittgenstein) Dissemination [imp. "The Pharmakon"] (Jacques Derrida) The…
on “Ask HN: Which books do you consider real gems in your field of work/study?” ↗…something to reject it. Many do agree, to be clear, just like... it's foundational. David Harvey can help there, he's not always perfect but he's better than most. From there, what I personally did was read On the Genealogy of Morals by Nietzsche. Then Discipline and Punish by Foucault. Then the Deleuze. I am less well read with Freud than I should be to truly engage with Anti-Oedipus, but Civilization and its Discontents is worthwhile.…
on “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy” ↗…movers is way too simplistic to ground some of her views on ethics. John Stuart Mill's "Utilitarianism" was my first assigned reading in a political philosophy class, and remains my favorite. Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals prompted me to question whether the values I had always held were really all that valuable. Eleanor Rosch's work on basic categories and prototype theory (without which Lakoff's Women, Fire, and Dangerous…
on “Articles, Ideas, Books and/or Concepts that have changed your life” ↗My favourite is Nietzsche's "Genealogy of Morals". Here is a taste, from a section on punishment, in his second essay (text from http://home.sandiego.edu/~janderso/360/genealogy2.htm): In order to give at least an idea of how uncertain, how belated,…
on “Ask HN: What kind of philosophy do you read?” ↗The book of Revelations includes a part where the "elect" call out for the blood of the sinners. And Nietzsche references church fathers rejoicing at a similar thought. Tangentially, Genealogy of Morals is a good resource for wrapping one's head around these kinds of barbarities.
on “Buried Alive: Stories from Inside Solitary Confinement” ↗…Fast and Slow Mitnick, Kevin and William Simon (2002) Art of Deception Navarro and Karlins (2008) What Every Body is Saying: Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People Nietzsche, Friedrich (1887) On the Genealogy of Morals Rhodes, Richard (1986) Making of the Atomic Bomb Sun Tzu (c. 400 BCE) Art of War Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (2005) Fooled by Randomness Wright, Lawrence (2013) Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and…
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗Nietzsche wrote a fascinating book about this - The Genealogy of Morals. If I remember correctly, he uses the ancient city of Rome as a symbol of the pre-Abrahamic, natural han ethic. Power is good, sex is good, wealth is good, strength is good, competence is good. This…
on “In place of a legal notice, here is a blessing” ↗Read Nietzsche for the first time this year. Genealogy of Morals transfixed me with its brilliance and settled lifelong questions. A singular intellect cutting through time like hot knife through butter.
on “Nietzsche in Turin” ↗…By showing you can afford lavish things, you are demonstrating success power and riches. This makes people do whatever you want, or at least tilt the scale closer into your favor. I think Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals, then reading Will To Power would very much get you up to speed. Other authors, Hobbes, Machiavelli, maybe Stirner, maybe skip to Callicles in Plato's Gorgias. Even ChatGPT can probably get you started…
on “What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)” ↗Funnily enough, iirc Foucault viewed a large part of his work as extending the style of investigation Neitzsche initiated in Genealogy of Morals. I think Nietzsche is great. His prose is a breath of fresh air and he's arguably the greatest literary stylist among philosophers since the Greeks. Sartre was pretty good too, likely thanks to his ability…
on “Foucault's Order of Things Explained with Trading Cards [video]” ↗Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals.
on “Fitter, happier, and other fantasies of modern life” ↗…little phoned-in. It's not really an essay anyway, but a peptalk. He didn't even have the usual cavalcade of proofreaders at the bottom. 3) The most influential essay I've ever read is the first essay of "Genealogy of Morals".
on “How Not to Die” ↗