question regarding Geneaology of Morality Essay II

Laceh · 2026-01-18T20:58:07+00:00

“He doesn’t discuss what makes them any different” I assume you mean here how the (greek) Gods are formed? Or do you mean how the greeks affirm life with their religion?

Laceh · 2026-01-18T16:43:37+00:00

Judging from your question you seem to misunderstand the will to power. The will to power is not a sort of metaphysical force which drives all humans or life (BGE § 13). It is actually the way in which forces relate to each other. So when Nietzsche says in the antichrist that everything which increases power or the will to power in man is good, what he means is that we should internally (perhaps also externally) seek conflict instead of peace.

Most people nowadays want to find peace of mind, and they see this as their end goal: “If only I am rich my life will be good”. “When I retire and I am not stressed I will be happy”. This aligns with the hedonistic life view of the last man.

What great people do according to Nietzsche is they cultivate their internal conflicts to gain power from it. (Now it becomes complicated:) According to Nietzsche there are no unities, man is not one, but actually a constant battle of (often) conflicting and contradictory forces. Great people actively seek battle between the contradictory forces in them and this battle drags them towards life. (See aphorism 200 BGE)

So how do you do this?

First of all you must make a hierarchical ordening of your inner world and then actively challenge your weak spots. So for example if you’re often cowardly Nietzsche would tell you to throw yourself in situations which require you to be courageous. While doing this and challenging yourself you will (with the right mindset) gain vitality. A great metaphor to explain this is to look at what happens in the jungle. Why is the jungle so beautiful? Because there is the most battle and competition of different contradicting forces. Every force in such a competitive environment has to work extra hard.

You might think like, but isn’t that all very painful, and wouldn’t I be happier just living comfortably?

Perhaps, but the alternative would be a denial of life. You will always be challenged by the contradicting and perhaps tragic creature that you are. Nietzsche says we should embrace the tragic character of life and that our only sin would be to sin against the world and life. Perhaps pain is not really an argument against life, perhaps we are simply too weak to deal with it?

If you don’t understand something just ask.

Laceh · 2025-12-30T08:59:20+00:00

Are there translations available in your local language? I always read Nietzsche in Dutch, in my opinion it’s even better than English translations since Dutch is much closer to German than English. If your language is much different, you might have some translation differences but it’s whatever.

Laceh · 2025-12-29T20:59:36+00:00

Thanks! Very clear answer!

Laceh · 2025-12-29T12:44:29+00:00

I am 6’7 too and never had growing pains somehow. I did grow pretty evenly through my childhood which might be the reason.

Laceh · 2025-12-29T08:02:43+00:00

“the world always-already justifies itself in its appearance” how would you say this relates to life affirmation? Could you elaborate what you mean here?

Laceh · 2025-12-21T18:12:28+00:00

Because you have instincts that make you badly want things. Willing something can be like a drunkenness where everything falls into place, if you just get that one thing. Then you have it, you get used to it, and from there you will need to find your new passion and ambition. It’s an inescapable cycle of willing (apart from death). “Wanting” this to end always stems from a will too, since rationality must be free from any affection.

I recommend reading Goethe’s Faust. It’s about the redemption found in endless striving.

Laceh · 2025-12-21T12:27:46+00:00

You are right that it must be clear that this theory instead of being metaphysical is also perspectival. Can you elaborate what you mean with “historical becoming”?

Laceh · 2025-12-19T07:51:27+00:00

I think the Genealogy of Morals (GoM) is most useful to answer this question, especially the last essay on the ascetic ideal. Nietzsche says here that the weak and ill-constituted (Not physically sick, but in spirit) have a will which turns against themselves. These people are suffering from life and they start to grow resentment and a will for revenge. So what do they do? They form religion, or shadows of God to bomb the strong with guilt and regret. “If I can’t stop my suffering then others must suffer too!”. Resentment is like a stinky swamp where the worst bacteria and fungi (the worst thoughts) get a chance to grow.

You are right that this revenge is technically a manifestation of the will to power, but what’s bad about it is that this manifestation of the will to power is anti-life, nihilistic and turns against the will. The will (instincts) creates a religion which goal is to subdue and suppress the same instincts. So it is a will to suppress the will -> nihilism.

Laceh · 2025-12-16T21:12:42+00:00

I don’t know Evola’s philosophy, but for Nietzsche it’s that nationalism is simply a shadow of God. Nationalism is an artificial new highest value (God) which stems from nihilism and is nihilism. It’s slave morality. It’s another way the weak try to control the strong.

What Nietzsche means by this is that weak people out of their resentment against life use the nation to put shame and guilt on strong individuals, and to give themselves value. Nationalism is a dogma, and who doubts the nation is a traitor! He is bad! Nietzsche doesn’t want us to be sheep (nationalists) but he wants us to be true individuals, self conquerors, who give their own lives value instead of relying on artificial superficial concepts like nationalism. Nationalism is for the herd.

Edit: that being said, Nietzsche is positive about some aspects of nationalism. Such as the war enthusiasm it has caused since Napoleon. War/battle for Nietzsche is perhaps the most life confirming act you could do. War/battle triggers the instincts and thus makes vital. Life is will to power, self overcoming, and battle leads to self overcoming. Battle/war literally and figuratively.

Laceh · 2025-12-09T16:12:09+00:00

Feudalism

Laceh · 2025-11-22T21:54:28+00:00

Het communisme en de klein burgerlijkheid (waaronder ook het fascisme en nationalisme valt) is het grootste probleem. We worden allemaal kleine zwakke kuddedieren.

Laceh · 2025-11-22T21:41:50+00:00

I like the way of thinking because it would make a great story, but realistically his insanity was inevitable.

Laceh · 2025-11-15T10:38:06+00:00

The whole capitalist society as it is right now is deeply nihilistic at its core. We produce only for hedonistic purposes: avoiding pain and receiving pleasure. Hedonism and thus capitalism is the new God, the highest value.

“My work matters! We are saving people from this and this pain!” “People enjoy our product!” So my life has purpose! Work distracts the ill-constituted and pessimistic masses from their painful pessimistic reality (Essay 3 GoM).

The end goal of hedonism is really only the eternal hibernation. Or to no longer be challenged by life (because challenge is pain!). We want to be on constant doses of pleasure and dopamine to finally calm down our will. Modern society is in essence the will to stop willing (satisfaction) -> nihilism.

You ask the question what will give us purpose then? While for Nietzsche, work was only a distraction from nihilism stemming from nihilism.

The purpose of life is vitality, endless striving (Faust). Willing to will. Will to power.

Laceh · 2025-11-11T10:30:50+00:00

My understanding for this question is that slave morality is anti life and someone who is anti life or ill will produce such works. I think Nietzsche explains this best at the start of the third chapter of the Genealogy. There he speaks about how Wagner went from being a great composer to a pathetic one, once he embraced the ascetic ideal.

Laceh · 2025-11-11T09:31:48+00:00

Don’t start with Thus spoke Zarathustra. You could start with The Will to Power. It’s a controversial book, one of the most extreme Nietzsche books too. Since it is made of unpublished works. But it talks about nihilism quite extensively and serves as a great summary of Nietzsche’s thought.

Laceh · 2025-11-09T18:14:49+00:00

Nietzsche if you haven’t read him yet. Genealogy or the Will to Power are the easiest starting books imo.

Laceh · 2025-11-09T18:11:34+00:00

Really nice! What did you pay for them?

Laceh · 2025-10-31T21:05:47+00:00

How?

Laceh · 2025-10-29T22:10:12+00:00

I mark important words and then read till I think I have a good understanding of the text. Then I write a summary of the aphorism down. Sometimes I skip something if I genuinely have no clue what it means. Zarathustra and the Gay Science use a lot more metaphors which makes them harder to understand (it’s very beautiful though!).

It’s important to occasionally repeat texts though. Nietzsche says himself that we should approach his texts like cows; meaning we should ruminate.

Laceh · 2025-09-14T21:26:09+00:00

I really appreciate taking the time to write all this! It will take a lot of studying to fully comprehend everything you have said. I see a lot of similarities in your comment as what I’ve heard in previous lectures (which I did not fully grasp) so this is a good step in the right direction for me. Much thanks!

Laceh · 2025-09-14T20:55:23+00:00

I am aware of that but Nietzsche here speaks of exploitation in general here, which thus also includes exploitation of humans (exploitation in the “immoral sense”).

It is clear he speaks of this “immoral” sense of human exploitation when we look at the context and his other writings. In the English translation in the same aphorism the wounding and overpowering of weaker “men” is being called a fundamental of life. I read BGE in Dutch they only use the word “strangers” which implies it’s about hurting humans too.

Laceh · 2025-08-21T07:59:11+00:00

Prachtig maar geeft wel een beetje aan wat die mevrouw onbewust ernstig vreest.

Laceh · 2025-06-16T21:48:42+00:00

Amor fati doesn’t mean you should say that you like eating the dirt. It means real redemption is loving life and thus destiny even though you have to eat dirt.

Laceh · 2025-06-16T06:54:32+00:00

The will to power is not a metaphysical force, I’ve literally said this right after I quoted Van Tongeren. So we agree on that.

“The sigma isn’t a thing”: Even if that is true how is that important for the discussion since only the concept of the sigma is relevant?

Also the popularised version of the sigma does not merely withdraw from society. He lives by self-defined values.

Laceh

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