Reading Group
5:30pm – 7:00pm, October 22 & 29; November 5 & 12
All undergraduate and graduate students are warmly welcome.
What Should We Value? Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is famous for his polemics against Christianity and traditional morality. According to Nietzsche, not only Christianity but also supposedly non-Christian ethical systems are founded on the resentment of the weak for those in power, a hatred of vitality, and an abhorrence of what is beautiful. In Beyond Good and Evil, he argues that the concepts of “good” and “evil” as we ordinarily understand them are hopelessly corrupted by these foundations. Rejecting this polarity between good and evil, he maintains we must return to the ancient opposition of “good and bad”. Nietzsche argues that this ancient opposition is founded on the perspective of the strong and noble. Whereas “evil” refers to the powerful through the eyes of resentful “slaves”, “bad” refers to the so-called slaves from “noble” perspective of the strong. And whereas our “good” reflects the pitiful perspective of the weak, the ancient “good” reflects the excellence of truly “great men”, of whom Nietzsche claims the following are modern representatives: Napoleon, Beethoven, Goethe, and himself.
In this reading group we will consider both Nietzsche’s critique of traditional European values and his positive vision for what we should value: strength, beauty, vitality, power, creativity, and pluralism. Questions will include: Does Nietzsche reject morality entirely, or only a certain conception of it? Can we construct a coherent system of values out of Nietzsche, or is the lack of systematicity part of his goal? Does Nietzsche believe in objective truth? Is he right to oppose these two systems of value to each other, or is some sort of integration of the two systems, or some third system, a possibility? And most importantly, is Nietzsche right?
Following our discussion of Nietzsche, we will have a final session where we reflect on Aquinas, Marcus, and Nietzsche in conversation with one another.
Led by Michael Lang (Ph.D. Candidate)
Email office@houstoninstitute.org for more information.
