On the Genealogy of Morals

On the Genealogy of Morals is a work written by Friedrich Nietzsche and first published in 1887. The work attempts to clarify and complement some of the themes discussed in his earlier work entitled Beyond Good and Evil.

Although his motivation was to complement earlier writings, On the Genealogy of Morals develops much further the ideas of "good" and "evil" and the concepts of guilt and bad conscience. It also reflects on ascetic ideals and the purpose of any philosopher. He also uses language that is less cryptic and easier to understand, making it a much more accessible read.

Nietzsche contrasts 'good and bad' with 'good and evil', and traces how the first pair was overturned by the second under Judeo-Christian interpretation. He then analyzes the bad conscience, whose cause in primitive times was guilt, understood not in the sense of moral responsibility, but as equivalent to material debt.

This edition of the book On the Genealogy of Morals is based on the translation by Horace B. Samuel, M.A. The fragment "Peoples and Countries" is given in J. M. Kennedy's translation.

"Those English psychologists, who up to the present are the only philosophers who are to be thanked for any endeavour to get as far as a history of the origin of morality-these men, I say, offer us in their own personalities no paltry problem;-they even have, if I am to be quite frank about it, in their capacity of living riddles, an advantage over their books..."