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The Depths
Closely connected to the symbol of the depths is Nietzsche’s chosen expression of the “noble” behavior that must characterize the philosophy of the future: looking down at the world as if from a great height. Nietzsche believes that nobility is determined by its master morality, which identifies itself and its goals with “good”; rather than opposing “good” to “evil,” however, this noble attitude considers people, ideas, and practices which are not noble to be merely “contemptible,” or beneath it. In this sense, the symbol of a great height is not merely a way of describing what is noble, but the key to understanding it. The philosophers of the future, if they are to break free of the prejudiced morality of the past and the flawed philosophy it produced, must strive for nobility themselves. To Nietzsche this does not mean rejecting the world and becoming a hermit but living with a degree of distance from society—and, critically, from the herd man—that can be more or less literal depending on the particular form that nobility takes in a “great” individual. Certain leaders, such as Frederick the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, and the younger Napoleon, are to Nietzsche all nobles who command from great heights but are still very much men of the world. It is this self-conscious distance from the crowd, however, that allows for the creation of values, which to Nietzsche is the very goal of philosophy.
A Great Height Quotes in Beyond Good and Evil
The Beyond Good and Evil quotes below all refer to the symbol of A Great Height. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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1. On the Prejudices of Philosophers
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In this, it seems to me, we should agree with these skeptical anti-realists and knowledge microscopists of today: their instinct, which repels them from modern reality, is unrefuted—what do their retrograde bypaths concern us! The main thing about them is not that they wish to go “back,” but that they wish to get—away. A little more strength, flight, courage, and artistic power, and they would want to rise—not return!
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6. We Scholars
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The scope and the tower-building of the sciences has grown to be enormous, and with this also the probability that the philosopher grows weary while still learning or allows himself to be detained somewhere to become a “specialist”—so he never attains his proper level, the height for a comprehensive look, for looking around, for looking down.
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A Great Height Symbol Timeline in Beyond Good and Evil
The timeline below shows where the symbol A Great Height appears in Beyond Good and Evil. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
2. The Free Spirit
...esoteric approach to philosophy over the exoteric, arguing that the philosopher should look down from above on the problems of the world. Nietzsche then cautions the young, whose strict binary thinking...
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6. We Scholars
...philosophers, Nietzsche returns to the idea that the philosopher must look down from a great height; only from there can the philosopher “create values.” Philosophical laborers, on the other hand, work...
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9. What Is Noble
...same way it would treat itself. The noble soul looks downwards, understanding itself to be above the crowd. As the noble soul is self-assured, it does not have to seek itself....
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...alone, understanding that they cannot be delegated. The graciousness of nobility requires having reached one’s “height”; until then the noble individual demands solitude and separation from others.
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10. From High Mountains: Aftersong
...offers an ode to friendship, calling his friends to join him in a place high above the world. In his solitude and suffering, however, he has changed greatly, prompting surprise in...
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