Transcript 100Nietzsche

NIETZSCHE
MASTER MORALITY
VS.
SLAVE MORALITY
Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900
Classicist
Existentialist?
Aphoristic
philosopher
Proto-Nazi?
Übermensch
Historian of ideas
Athiest
Nietzsche’s Epigram
Revaluation of values
Nietzsche calls for a
“revaluation of values” (549), and “…a new
type of philosopher and commander…. The
image of such leaders hovers before our
eyes...whose new pressure and hammer
will steel a conscience and transform a
heart into bronze…do you know this, you
free spirits?” (549) Viking values (551)
[proto-Nazism?]
Morality: Master vs. Slave
Nietzsche distinguishes between 2
historical forms of morality:
1. master
2. slave
He clearly prefers first over second, to
avoid “total degeneration of
humanity” (549)
Master versus Slave 1
MORAL SYSTEMS
MASTER:
Classical [Greek]: virtue ethics
- ideal: human excellence
SLAVE:
Modern: utilitarianism, egalitarianism
- ideal: happiness, ease, content,
peace, rest, safety
Master versus Slave 2
IDEAL HUMAN BEING
MASTER:
Aristotle: Megalopsyche 
Übermensch
SLAVE:
un bonhomme (552)
Master versus Slave 3
IDEAL POLITICAL SYSTEM
MASTER:
Aristocracy
[aristos vs. kakos] (550)
SLAVE:
Democracy
Master versus Slave 4
MAIN MORAL CONTRAST
MASTER:
Good vs. Bad
applies to people
SLAVE:
Good vs. Evil
Applies to actions
Master versus Slave 5
VALUES & ATTITUDES
MASTER:
Power is good
Male
SLAVE:
Power is bad
Female
Nature red in tooth and claw
“…life itself is essentially a process of
appropriating, injuring, overpowering
the alien and the weaker, oppressing,
being harsh, imposing your own form,
incorporating, and at least, the very
least, exploiting…: (550)
[Nietzsche apparently read Darwin;
thought human species highly
variable, on verge of speciation…]
Master and Slave are idealizations
Master and slave moralities are not
descriptions of actual morals of
people, races, or states, but abstract
types in Nietzsche’s historical
analysis of morality.
“…you sometimes find them sharply
juxtaposed—inside the same person
even, within a single soul.” (550)
[Parting thought]
Evolution teaches that human beings, as social
animals, have evolved 2 conflicting drives:
1. Intra-species competition [master morality?]
Most evolutionary competition is
between members of same species
2. Intra-species co-operation [slave morality?]
Inter-species advantage gained by altruism
within a species.