Beyond Good and Evil

by

Friedrich Nietzsche

Beyond Good and Evil: 4. Epigrams and Interludes Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Nietzsche makes various observations about human nature, beginning with the difficulty of separating knowledge from morality. He then notes the ways in which humans unconsciously repress their own memories, repeating their experiences again and again. These experiences, to Nietzsche, stem from a deeper character, one that is largely unconscious. Unconscious behaviors therefore tend to condition one’s higher ideals, not the other way around. To support this, Nietzsche argues that two individuals with different habits—unconscious expressions of their personality—but the same principles will live very different lives.
Throughout this chapter, written in the form of a series of aphorisms, Nietzsche comments on various aspects of knowledge, morality, memory, and human behavior. Nietzsche continues to refer to unconscious drives, evoking an understanding of how they are integrated into human reasoning. This idea is similar to Freud’s concept of repression, a major focus in psychoanalysis.
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Nietzsche draws a sharp distinction between men and women. He believes that because similar affects express themselves differently in men and women, they are unable to truly communicate their experiences and are doomed to misunderstand each other. Nietzsche finds in the vanity of women a contempt for the idea of “woman,” an internalized self-hatred. He then forcefully criticizes virtues such as affability and the seriousness of adults, arguing that the former betrays a contempt of other people, and that the latter is not true maturity, which is found in returning to play.
Nietzsche here touches directly on the subject of women for the first time, making a series of pronouncements on the nature of women; in so doing, he indicates the degree to which he disdains them. Nietzsche believes there is an unbridgeable gap between women and men, with different modes of thought and behavior conditioning the actions of each.
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Nietzsche continues to criticize Christianity, arguing that if Christians truly loved their fellow humans, they would still burn heretics at the stake. He also finds that nothing is moral as such but can only be interpreted morally. He continues to contrast women to men, arguing that women cannot keep their sense of perspective in affairs of love, and that while sensuality speeds the growth of love it also leaves such love more fragile. Returning to the question of will, Nietzsche states that the will to overcome any particular affect is but another affect.
Nietzsche continues to criticize Christianity, suggesting that modern tolerance betrays just how much it has abandoned its mission and become mere ritual. He also reaffirms the idea that a person’s perspective warps their understanding of knowledge and morality, both of which are governed by personal and often unconscious drives as much as by deliberate thought.
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Reaffirming his conception of rank, Nietzsche claims that a people is merely a way of creating the conditions for a few “great men,” and then moving beyond them, too. He also distinguishes humankind from their abilities, describing talent as “a hiding place.” He continues to make remarks about the nature of women, describing them in harshly negative, animalistic terms. To Nietzsche, women are jealous and vicious and incapable of philosophy; indeed, he claims that a woman who wishes to be a scholar must be sterile to have developed such a “masculinity of a taste.”
Nietzsche’s aphorisms on nationhood touch upon a theme that he will explore in depth in “Peoples and Fatherlands,” his deep skepticism of and antipathy toward nationalism. Nietzsche’s withering criticism of social and moral biases forms a sharp and unfortunate contrast to his remarks about women, which echo the ugliest prejudices of his time.
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Nietzsche reminds those who would fight monsters of the danger of becoming monsters themselves, warning them of the dangers of the abyss within the human soul. At the same time, he affirms the conditional nature of evil, suggesting that a value considered evil at any given time was once considered good. He goes so far as to state directly that any unconditional moral demands are pathological, and that mistrust and mockery are signs of a healthy intellect.
Nietzsche reaffirms his belief that morals don’t simply exist; rather, they must be created by—and for—particular societies at particular times. While this is a freeing revelation, it is also a daunting challenge, demanding tremendous presence of mind from those who would strive to be moral without becoming dogmatic, as they cannot rely on any unconditional or universal claims to “the good.”
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Nietzsche finds that Christianity, rather than fighting vice, actually created it, as it warped Eros into the religious understanding of vice. He argues that knowledge excludes pity, which is a superfluous quality in the pursuit of truth. He also affirms the primacy of psychology in actions and motivations, claiming that humans love their own desire, not the desired object, and find vanity offensive only because they are vain themselves. As philosophers—and humankind in general—have not been sufficiently honest about what seeking the truth means, the highest kindness—honesty—appears malicious to modern morality.
Just as morality itself is created, Nietzsche believes that every virtue creates its own vice; the moral quest against evil is therefore doomed to failure, since it stems from such a deeply biased premise. In his comments on desire, Nietzsche continues to make claims that resonate with Freudian psychoanalysis, arguing that force of desire itself is what motivates human behavior, not the object we desire to obtain. Nietzsche also reaffirms his belief both that pity as a moral value inhibits human development, and that cruelty has a necessary role in human behavior.
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