This is an entry on Nietzsche's classic book "On the Genealogy of Morals".
The general idea is that "the selfless are the good" is not a natural or inherent notion for humans. Nietzsche analyzes morality before Christianity, such as for the ancient Greeks and Romans, and finds a stark difference in attitude to modern Christian/Buddhist morality.
He shows that the free-spirited human was violent to their fellow humans for all sorts of reasons, and was proud of it. These kinds of people were "good" because they were the strongest. Everything they wanted, they took, and they were happy. There's a degree of idealism here as well, in the fact that if something terrible happened that was outside their control then it was still seen as a personal failure.
He then goes on to show how the oppressed/weak people (the "bad") weaponized guilt to redefine morality. They argued that it's actually the weak who are good, because they are the ones who are "selfless" and "self-sacrificing". Their weakness becomes a "choice," and the strong become "evil" for "choosing" to be the strong.
What is guilt, for Nietzsche? It's the by-product of civilization forcing humans to direct their violence inwards instead of against others. The desire to inflict suffering can no longer be satisfied once civilization has been established: you are only allowed to inflict suffering on yourself, and, as sick as it is, you still enjoy it.
Nietzsche ultimately writes about all of this because he sees society as extremely sick. He demands new human values (he has, after all, shown that values can change) so that we can stop attacking happiness and enjoying pain.
At many points throughout the book, Nietzsche refers to the weak as the "Jews." He even calls them resentful and vindictive. Is this antisemitic? Hitler certainly thought so, citing Nietzsche as a major influence. But the irony here is that the Jews he's talking about are actually Jesus and his disciples! It's a criticism of Christianity, not of Judaism. And, importantly, his theory is about "slave morality" in general, so it applies to any oppressed group. And he doesn't support oppression (the arrest of the strong is a crucial step towards modern civilization!), he just hates the idealization of self-loathing.
© 2024 Ryan Brewer.