genealogy of morals essay 2 summary

On the Genealogy of Morals

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

First Essay

Second Essay

Third Essay

Key Figures

Index of Terms

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Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Second Essay Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Second essay summary: “‘guilt,’ ‘bad conscience,’ and related matters”.

The thing that separates humans from other animals is their ability to make promises; this enables them to exert action on the future. Forgetfulness is the opposite of this, yet Nietzsche claims that it is an important and positive feature of the human condition. Forgetfulness enables individuals to find psychological tranquility and step away from their concerns for a while: “There can exist no joy, no hope, no pride, no real present, without forgetfulness” (44). Nietzsche suggests that controlling one’s future requires the ability to determine when memory and forgetfulness are needed by looking at the causal relationships between ideas and their origins.

This ability to consider and make decisions about the future led to the development of the value of responsibility. Morality made humans predictable. Their actions would, most of the time, adhere to a strict set of ethical rules. A sovereign individual , however, is free from moral custom and is able to make promises independent of a relationship to Western morality. Nietzsche argues that a sovereign individual develops a personal system of values and examines the world and others through the lens of a uniquely personal perspective . This is called a person’s “conscience.”

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Conscience , too, has an origin story. Nietzsche shows how conscience is related to memory and forgetfulness. In the past, violence was used to remember the difference between right and wrong action. Pain or the prospect of pain fixed certain values in a person’s consciousness. The conscience of a sovereign individual does not utilize pain; it affirms right action.

This is in contrast to what Nietzsche refers to as “bad conscience,” which uses guilt to adhere to a system of morality. Guilt is derived from obligation, which stands in opposition to the freedom of the sovereign individual. Punishment of “wrong” action is a form of retaliation. All punishment is a form of compensation to a person who has been rendered hurt or angry by the action of another. Nietzsche argues that the relationship between person and punishment is always one of creditor and debtor. A person who commits a “wrong” act owes a debt to the creditor that must be paid. This creates space for cruelty and pain. The infliction of suffering that is demanded for compensation gives the creditor a sense of pleasure. Ancient ceremonies with blood or punishment ceremonies are evidence that this transaction of pain and pleasure has been a part of human life for thousands of years. Nietzsche explains that cruelty is not inherently bad; the festivals and celebrations that followed ancient cruelty reveal a natural relationship between cruelty and joy. This was functional so long as cruelty was public; the development of gods and religion was a way to handle the reality of unobserved or undiscovered inflictions of pain.

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The relationship between debtor and creditor is the origin of guilt. Humans were unable to view the world through any other lens, and every action was assigned a value and price. This formed the basis for all good virtues, including kindness and justice. The creditor/debtor relationship also extends to the relationship between the individual and the community. As a community grows in both size and power, the small offenses committed by individuals become less important and are no longer in need of punishment. The penal system becomes more relaxed, and deals are struck. When a community begins to feel threatened, punishment grows more severe.

Punishment has two elements: fluid and permanent. The permanent element is the act and drama of the punishment itself, while the fluid element is the purpose and function of punishment. Punishment can have a host of meanings and purposes. Nietzsche lists 11 purposes for punishments but admits that there are more. For example, punishment can strip a criminal of the opportunity to act again, or it can be used to deter others from committing similar acts. However, the greatest result of punishment is that it improves memory, altering behavior on a fundamental level. Nietzsche views bad conscience , or guilt, as a form of societal imprisonment. The social structures which uphold Western morality turn people against themselves, causing them to inflict pain upon themselves in order to be a part of the community.

Second Essay Analysis

Imagine a child running up to his friend who is playing catch with some other young people on the playground. The child wants to play, but the friend tells him that the teams are full. The child feels angry at being left, so he calls his friend by a mean name. When the friend begins to cry, the child feels pain at having caused his friend harm. Since the interaction caused the child pain, the child is less likely to commit the same act again. This is an example of the relationship between pain and memory: The child’s mind remembers the experience of pain and resolves to act differently in the future.

Memory and forgetfulness are the beginning of a timeline of emotions that Nietzsche traces in the second essay. His genealogical approach provides a linear understanding of the history of morality, and Nietzsche proposes that it begins with memory. Memory enabled humankind to make decisions about the future—what Nietzsche refers to as “making promises.” Since humans can remember, they can assure others that they will do certain things at a later time, like offering to take the trash out “in the morning” or promising to help with math homework “after dinner.” One of the outcomes of the ability to make promises is a feeling of responsibility. This leads to obligation and, ultimately, guilt.

Nietzsche argues that guilt is the basis for bad conscience . This is an internal compass that directs an individual to make choices based upon guilt. The child avoids calling his friends cruel names in the future because he feels guilty when he contemplates the memory of the time he hurt his friend on the playground. His choices are dictated by the memory of pain. The child does not make his choice based upon doing what provides the highest level of overall good—the foundation of utilitarianism . The child also does not make his choice based upon pleasure, what feels good to him. Instead, he makes his choice based upon pain. Nietzsche argues that this is the opposite of The Free, Untamed Man (note that Nietzsche uses “man” in the philosophical tradition that is synonymous with humankind). When individuals make decisions based upon guilt and pain, they are adhering to a life-denying morality that severs them from their own enjoyment of existence.

Guilt has two important implications for humankind and moral structures. First, guilt creates the roles of debtor and creditor and a relationship of punishment and retaliation between the two. Second, guilt provided context for the “sin.” Suddenly, certain ideas were considered bad and others good. As revealed in the first essay, often these markers were developed through their associations with poverty and wealth. The Free, Untamed Man is the individual who is able to free himself from the shackles of guilt and social context. Nietzsche acknowledges that the current system of morality functions well for many people, and because he does not assign an evaluative score to these systems, he does not claim that one is right or wrong. Instead, he attempts to expose the reality of each type of morality and what it can do to a person’s psychology.

“Slave morality,” which submits itself to guilt, is what Nietzsche refers to repeatedly as “life-denying.” This means that the conscience applies guilt and shame rather than affirming right action. “Slave morality” also uses ascetism, which employs self-denial and self-discipline to adhere to a false sense of right action. A guilty person may avoid pleasurable activities out of fear of making an incorrect choice. The development of “sin” solidifies this social contract. In his third essay, Nietzsche exposes the relationship between the Church and bad conscience, described in the theme of Ascetic Ideals and the Priest . Religion provided a rationale to the suffering of living a life of guilt: “In order to dispose of the possibility of there being any concealed, undiscovered and unobserved suffering in the world, man was more or less obliged to invent gods” (54). The notion of “sin” became a powerful tool for guaranteeing the docility and predictability of the masses. The promise of heavenly reward made a life of self-denial and misery more palatable.

Sin also brings the fundamental emotion of responsibility to a new level. The emergence of creditor and debtor in every human interaction exploded under the Christian tradition. Now, humans were no longer indebted only to each other, they were indebted to the community. When they failed to live in accordance with the values of the community, they were punished. They were also indebted to God.

Their payment for this debt was their adherence to a moral code of right action. Each choice they made either contributed to their payment and earned them riches in the afterlife, or it intensified their guilt.

Nietzsche argues that because humans need a place to direct their anger and resentment toward life, the Church provided them with someone they could direct their anger toward: themselves. Suddenly, if they were feeling oppressed and miserable, the blame was not with the nobility. It was with themselves: “We modern men are heirs to the ancient practices of vivisecting our consciences, and inflicting cruelty upon our animal selves” (81). They were not living a life that was righteous enough to earn them the comfort and riches they desired. The Church directed them to live more piously and with more humility, further deepening the divide between social classes.

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