Nietzsche and the genealogy of modern morality

Nietzsche agreed that, in order to truly understand modern morality, we need to understand its history. But this is tricky business: many before him got the history wrong, he thought. They associated “goodness” with usefulness, for example.

In one of his most lucid books, The Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche examines the history of the dyadic concepts “good and bad,” as well as “good and evil.” Using his background in philology to examine the origins of these words, Nietzsche proposes an explanation: “good and bad” were terms that were originally defined by the “strong” and successful — the “masters,” as he put it. People with power looked inside themselves, and whatever they found inside, they called “good.” Whatever didn’t meet those standards, they called “bad.” Simple!

The un-masterful people (Nietzsche called them “slaves”) didn’t much like this state of affairs, as you can imagine. In what Nietzsche considers the defining moment of our becoming-modern as a human species, the slaves revolted and prompted a re-valuation of moral goodness and badness. They turned morality on its head.

…man first became an interesting animal on the foundation of this essentially dangerous form of human existence. (Genealogy of Morals, first book, section 6)

Why did Nietzsche consider the victory of the slaves to be dangerous? Because the slaves had never learned to be anything except slaves. Their victory, Nietzsche thought, didn’t turn them into the masters — it turned them into mere “successful slaves.”

The slave revolt in morality fundamentally changed the way that “good and bad” worked. Instead of defining goodness first — by looking inside and seeing what was there — the slaves defined what was bad right off the bat. And they knew right away what was bad: the masters! Whatever isn’t that, that’s what we should call good. “Good and bad” became “Good and Evil.” The masters, in their strength, their confidence, their passion, were Evil — and the opposite of those traits became seen, and celebrated, as Good. Morality became resentful.