On the Genealogy of Morality
by Friedrich Nietzsche, Horace B Samuel · first published 2018
53% recommend42% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Clear, lucid entry point into Nietzsche, often recommended as a first read over Zarathustra; it traces the origins of moral ideas, including the 'slave morality' concept, and suits newcomers to philosophy.
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…whole argument depends on a very particular view of what 'moral philosophy' is and can be. IMO the best introduction to Nietzsche is Christopher Janaway's 'Beyond Selflessness', though it concentrates on the Genealogy of Morality. It's also worth reading Walter Kaufmann's 'Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist' - the book that originally rehabilitated Nietzsche's image in the English-speaking world in the 1950s. Before…
on “A new book about Nietzsche: tethering philosophy to the mess of daily experience” ↗…you're not one of them. Resentment towards the ruling class is centuries old. For a thorough treatment on this topic, there's a masterpiece that spelled this out in a powerful way almost 150 years ago - On the Genealogy of Morality by Nietzsche [2] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Genealogy_of_Morality
on ““This resentment runs deep and is stunningly widespread”” ↗…on how Mathematics works. - Thus Spoke Zarathustra, a powerful book, it's dense and you can only drag many conclusions from it when you read other works from Nietzsche, which lead to my next book. - On the Genealogy of Morality, this is for me the most important of the 5 books that I have read from Nietzsche, in the first essay of the book the concept of master morality and slave morality is introduced, some people think that…
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗…gives you goose bumps, the author is doing something right. "How the Steel Was Tempered", by Nikolaï Ostrovski: relates the adventures of Pavka Korchagin, a kid warrior during the Russian Revolution. "On the Genealogy of Morality", Friedrich Nietzsche. I found it in a library and I had just enough money to buy it, so I did and walked 5 miles home. I was asked by a beggar for the equivalent of a dollar, and it made me laugh. Except…
on “Ask HN: What are your greatest books?” ↗Not osti, but studied phil. On the Genealogy of Morality is a decent read, I can't think of anything better for a first Nietzsche read. If you've ever heard "slave morality", its from here.
on “How to Be a Stoic” ↗…Think about your biases - it’s not good to go through life hating an entire nation and it says more about you than about them. I am not American. If you actually do want to explore this topic, read On The Genealogy Of Morality by Nietzsche.
on “Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules” ↗Ha, the good old bad vs evil. You might want to read Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, First Treatise.
on “'Ray, This Is a Religion' How the largest hedge fund lost two top hires” ↗It depends where you start with Nietzsche. If your first encounter with his work is Thus Spake Zarathustra or perhaps Ecce Homo, you're going to be confused. In contrast, On the Genealogy of Morality, The Antichrist, Beyond Good and Evil are clear, lucid, and beautifully written (whether you agree with them is another matter). (He probably wasn't schizophrenic, but he did suffer from terrible migraines…
on “C.S. Lewis on the Reading of Old Books” ↗…development of moral ideas and subsequently create new, healthier (to him) ones. Too many books to list, but I recommend The Genealogy of Morality and Beyond Good and Evil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Genealogy_of_Morality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Good_and_Evil
on “Patrick Collison's Questions” ↗…translators are accurately reflecting that. His version of Zarathustra is undoing the "mistake" of the original Zarathustra. You don't see this in translations of his other works, like The Gay Science or On The Genealogy of Morality, which are better introductions anyway, not being explicitly literary like Zarathustra.
on “'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius – Stoicism in Modern Language [video]” ↗…viable solution is to attain power. Try telling those living under an autocracy that they should give up any hope for power and just be happy doing whatever they want. Nietzsche describes this perfectly in On the Genealogy of Morality and Beyond Good and Evil. The only way to truly be master of ones destiny is in creating the circumstances under which one will exist, not simply living at the whims of another. Those who think they are…
on “Power Is Overrated” ↗…them was particularly oriented towards altruism. It seems to me altruism was very much introduced by Christianism. I vaguely recall that Nietzsche analyzed the subject in details, for instance in ''On the Genealogy of Morality''[2]. Now, I'm not saying one of this point of view is right and the other is wrong, but at the very least there is a debate to have. Therefore it seems presumptuous to me to call one of them "basic…
on “Anger, Anxiety, Resentment, Stress, and Basic Humanity” ↗For me: - On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche - Simulcra and Simulations, Jean Baudrillard - The Ruling Class, Gaetano Mosca - Finish off the Enchiridion and Shobogenzo For work: - Envisioning Information, Edward Tufte - Antifragile,…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner On the Genealogy of Morality by Nietzsche Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
on “What's the most radical book you've read?” ↗This is only true for some religions. Since the author mentions Nietzsche, it feels fair to pull in On the Genealogy of Morality. Many religions today have this feature because they out-competed religions that didn't, but it's not a universal feature of religions by a long shot. If anything, religions that have this feature are…
on “Returning to Church won't save us from nihilism” ↗