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Friedrich Nietzsche: Genealogy of Morals
Morality & its Origins
Many have noted the ambitious project of Nietzsche’s Genealogy; in it, Nietzsche attempts to trace the origins of law, society, morality, religion, and so much more.
Genealogy is a history of us, of our attitudes and biases, as we have them in the present. And Nietzsche does not disappoint!
If our understanding of our moral values is flawed, then it logically follows that our understanding of other seemingly well-understood issues in politics and reality may also be flawed.
We often mistakenly view these values as universal metaphysical objects that are unchangeable. This would be a very simple reading of history, Nietzsche argues. Therefore, Nietzsche’s study of genealogy looks at our bias of assuming that our values are unchanging; he analyzes why this cannot simply be a linear progression but rather dependent on previous thought.
This method is most beautifully seen in examinations of topics that have obviously changed over the centuries, such as femininity and masculinity. For Nietzsche’s purposes, this method starts with morality which directly relates to our understanding of epistemology (the study of…
