Genealogy of Morals - Friedrich Nietzsche

"The Conscience of  Morality"

Reading/Discussion Schedule

January 17:  pp. 15-70; January 28: pp. 70-120; January 31: pp. 20-163

January 17

Question du Jour:

Who was your worst enemy in elementary school?

1. Why has Nietzsche written this work?

2. Where does Nietzsche begin in determining the foundation or origin of morals? What is his technique?

3. What makes a person good?

4. Why do we need enemies?

5. How does Miltonian evil compare with Nietzsche’s evil?

6. According to Nietzsche, is God good? Evil? Bad?

7. What is the connection between goodness and 1) strength, 2) the other.

8. How does he define and use each of the following terms for his genealogy:  pity, evil, good, value, virtue, ressentiment, justice, strength, weakness, moral, culture, slave, nobility, Jesus, priesthood, and barbaric.

9. What polarities/dualities does Nietzsche bring to the discussion and how does he use them?

10. How is his notion of polarity itself a concept of morality?

January 28

Question du Jour

What was your worst punishment?

1. What is the a) origin, b) purpose, c) form of punishment?
2. Where does bad conscience originate?
3. What does all of this have to do with morality? Why is Nietzsche writing this series of essays?
4. What does the Christian model reveal about the nature of morality?

January 31

1. What is the connection between ressentiment, bad conscience, and asceticism?
2. Who is the ascetic priest?
3. What is the greatest opponent to asceticism?
4. What is a will to nothingness?

Kierkegaard Paper due at 11:59 p.m. on January 23. Drafts are acceptable through 11:59 p.m. January 22.