Beyond Good and Evil+

Beyond Good and Evil – Nietzsche's Attack on 19th Century Dogmatic Thinking



One of the most brilliant philosophical thinkers of his time, Friedrich Nietzsche published Beyond Good and Evil at his own expense as an attempt to curve the unilateral belief in unfounded premises and dogmas that modern religion-based thinkers had at the time.

Drawing on concepts presented in his previous works, such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche attempted to point out that traditional morality was incorrect in pitting good and evil against each other as opposing forces. Instead, he proposed a theory according to which unique perspective took precedence over a generalized view, and good and evil were seen more as being different types of expressions stemming from the same basic impulses.

Nietzsche was undoubtedly a revolutionary thinker who was undeterred by opinions brought forth by his peers and contemporaries, and did not hesitate to criticize them for what he felt was an approach to philosophy that promoted idleness and premises based on incomplete or dated dogmatic concepts which have given rise throughout the years to metaphysical systems that simply don't add up in terms of their underlying foundation of morality.

Beyond Good and Evil dissects the beliefs set forth by these thinkers, as the author gradually goes on pointing out the deficiencies and discrepancies brought about by their system of thought focused on a single morality for all humankind. At the same time, he outlines the many qualities of “new” philosophies based on self-assertion and imagination, while talking about a concept called “will to power” which could be used to explain all behavior as an alternative to the “good vs. evil” ideals commonly accepted in the 19th century until then.