On the Genealogy of Morals
Written by Friedrich Nietzsche
Narrated by Duncan Steen
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher and author. Born into a line of Protestant churchman, Nietzsche studied Classical literature and language before becoming a professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland. He became a philosopher after reading Schopenhauer, who suggested that God does not exist, and that life is filled with pain and suffering. Nietzsche’s first work of prominence was The Birth of Tragedy in 1872, which contained new theories regarding the origins of classical Greek culture. From 1883 to 1885 Nietzsche composed his most famous work, Thus Spake Zarathustra, in which he famously proclaimed that “God is dead.” He went on to release several more notable works including Beyond Good and Evil and The Genealogy of Morals, both of which dealt with the origins of moral values. Nietzsche suffered a nervous breakdown in 1889 and passed away in 1900, but not before giving us his most famous quote, “From life's school of war: what does not kill me makes me stronger.”
More audiobooks from Friedrich Nietzsche
Will to Power, The (Unabridged) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Human, All Too Human Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joyful Wisdom, The (or: The Gay Science) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5400 Quotations from the Great Philosophers of the 19th Century Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Twilight of the Idols Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to On the Genealogy of Morals
Related audiobooks
Leviathan: Or, the Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Existentialist's Survival Guide: How to Live Authentically in an Inauthentic Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Philologists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Human Nature Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Anxiety: A Philosophical History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plato and Aristotle: The Genesis of Western Thought Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joyful Wisdom, The (or: The Gay Science) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Birth of Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thus Spoke Zarathustra Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Antichrist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kant's Foundations of Ethics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Descartes' Meditations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear and Trembling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Counsels and Maxims: Woodkeep Audio Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Twilight of the Idols Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Problems of Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trial and Death of Socrates Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ethics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ecce Homo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Genealogy of Morals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plato's Republic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Social Contract Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Controversy: The Art of Being Right Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Problems With Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Simply Nietzsche Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Philosophy For You
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Communicating Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of Living: Peace and Freedom in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dao De Jing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Tao of Pooh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Many Lives, Many Masters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stoicism: How to Use Stoic Philosophy to Find Inner Peace and Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Meditations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The More of Less Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Is a 4-Letter Word: Laughing and Learning Through 40 Life Lessons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mastering Logical Fallacies: The Definitive Guide to Flawless Rhetoric and Bulletproof Logic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/512 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson - Book Summary: An Antidote to Chaos Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People of the Lie Vol. 1: Toward a Psychology of Evil Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Holographic Universe: The Revolutionary Theory of Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for On the Genealogy of Morals
386 ratings12 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Verzameling geniale en minder geniale inzichten, van wie er vele intussen gemeengoed zijn geworden
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nietzsche writes in the same voice that my thoughts use. When I'm following his reasoning the fragments of my own ideas and experiences connect like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. Slowly the big picture materializes into a vista that spreads out, waiting to be explored.
Nietzsche really worries about humanity. He advises his followers carefully and warns about the danger and errors that he and others before him have encountered. He's a great guide for safaris. Hasn't lost me for too long, at least so far...1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Honestly it's a good book to introduce yourself to Nietzsche and his philosophy - it's one of a later books so his thoughts are quite established. And yet he is so busy destroying current concepts of Morality that he forgets to create any meaningful alternative.
In my view, it's simply not good enough. Destruction is always easier than construction and he definitely takes the easy path2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My favourite book and the audio version of it is the best. A book of 3 essays. Almost stopped reading after introduction. Then again half way through first essay. Found a few statements interesting in first 2 essays.Found third essay a bit more interesting.Neitzsche mentions becoming more Chinese. Also shutting down animal aspects of humans and hibernating, internalizing instincts. I wonder how Nietzsche exercised.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The word ought has its origins in the word owe. Whether or not this relationship survives translation I don't know, but why let semantics get in the way of a good idea. Reading Beyond Good and Evil before attempting this follow-up work would be the more logical option. But I doubt one can simply dip one's toe in to Nietzsche anyway - it is a case of diving in head first and trying to make sense of the turmoil. Nietzsche's racism reflects the tone of the times, and there is plenty of conflicting views to support the argument that his sister re-construed his work to fit comfortably with the Nazis. But in the end I felt Nietzsche's racism was as relevant to Nazism as Jack London's. It is interesting that he seems to support women's rights (remembering that J.S. Mill's On the Subjection of Women was published 18 years before), planes the edges off his Orientalism with Buddhism and Brahmanism, and doesn't appear so overjoyed at the "death of God" as Atheist's gleefully point out. Indeed, Nietzsche makes a point of saying that science is a more advanced form of the "ascetic ideal". The back cover of the work sums up Nietzsche's thesis as "culture and morality, rather than being eternal verities, are human-made". This is an oversimplification that reduces the depth of his work. Far be it for me to be an apologist for Nietzsche - the "intellectual" gatekeepers would never let such work be published today - but the brilliance is in its originality. To comprehend the thesis adequately, prior reading of Buddhism, Luther, Brahmanism, Kant, Spinoza, Goethe, Feuerbach, and Schopenhauer would be helpful but is not essential. However, a knowledge of the classics (at least Plato) is important. Nietzsche final words are that "man will wish Nothingness rather than not wish at all". I immediately thought of the maxim "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Probably the most useful idea from this work is that one needs to go back to first principles in establishing a philosophy - does or can truth exist? - (and even if we don't care to consciously develop a philosophy, the shepherds of the "herd mentality" will provide one for us without our knowledge or consent), and Nietzsche does so by regularly referring back to "Heracleitus" and Hesiod. I have already picked up the scent of the pre-Socratics and their importance in understanding the human-created chasm between philosophy and religion (and more recently, but less convincingly, between science and religion), and Nietzsche confirms this clue. Rather than the über-power of pre-Enlightenment Christian church and its priesthood driving the herd, Nietzsche foresaw ("forsooth"?) the pluralism of modern asceticism (which annoys me on Facebook, Twitter, and the news media any time I look). Admittedly, he was optimistic about this future, but then he didn't know what "the Internet" would say about him (how I loathe that saying!). So why don't I see the ascetic for what it is and just get off Facebook once again? Well. it's the guilt, you see. But you can't blame me - I didn't create it (Facebook or the guilt).
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If you liked what he did to God, you'll love Nietzsche's take on morality. The rich invented "good" and "bad" because they never suffered, and the poor and downtrodden invented "good" and "evil" because they needed a concept for the really horrible things that happened to them. Nietzche tries to unscientifically trace the evolution of morality. Reall fun.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Verzameling geniale en minder geniale inzichten, van wie er vele intussen gemeengoed zijn geworden
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A book of 3 essays. Almost stopped reading after introduction. Then again half way through first essay. Found a few statements interesting in first 2 essays.Found third essay a bit more interesting.Neitzsche mentions becoming more Chinese. Also shutting down animal aspects of humans and hibernating, internalizing instincts. I wonder how Nietzsche exercised.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Being three essays in which the great prophet of atheism discusses the origins of morality, particularly Christian morality, in human psychology, contrasting an asceticism which attempts to appeal to a mass mind to older, pagan mentalities which the author considers superior. As always with Nietzsche, the book is full of insights which are expressed in colorful and dramatic language. The book is jumpy, though, and extremely esoteric. It often seems that no two paragraphs have the least connection with each other, which is somewhat typical of Nietzsche's rambling later books. .
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If you liked what he did to God, you'll love Nietzsche's take on morality. The rich invented "good" and "bad" because they never suffered, and the poor and downtrodden invented "good" and "evil" because they needed a concept for the really horrible things that happened to them. Nietzche tries to unscientifically trace the evolution of morality. Reall fun.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Of all the books by or about Nietzsche, I think this particular edition of the Genealogy would be the best place for the novice to start. The introduction by Clark (a very well regraded Nietzsche scholar) is excellent and provides a workable framework for interpreting a text (and an author) that can often be difficult to decipher. The scholarly apparatus is exhaustive; the editors provide end notes that cover nearly every page in the original text and help the reader to make sense of Nietzsche's sometimes unclear allusions and provide voluminous biographic and bibliographic detail covering both Nietzsche and the interlocutors he mentions in the text (as well as a few he merely alludes to). As for the text itself, I think it is notable primarily for the genealogical analysis of the concepts of good/right-bad/wrong and for a glimpse of Nietzsche's "perspectivalist" epistemology in the third section. These views have been highly influential (although not among philosophers as such) over the past century and anyone that wishes to understand the course and trajectory of 20th century thought should be aware of them. Nietzsche is a master stylist, so the reading is fun as well as thought provoking.Of course, the central question, considering Nietzsche qua philosopher, is this: Does Nietzsche get thing right?I think it's pretty clear that the answer is "no". Although his castigation of scientific atheism as an extension (perhaps the highest extension) of religious asceticism shows depth and brilliance, he doesn't ever give us any solid arguments for thinking that truth itself hinges on particular standards of evaluation. Nietzsche seems to me to be skeptical of the idea of truth as correspondence (the standard view) because it situates truth outside of life. It makes truth something that transcends individual human beings. Perhaps this is true, and given Nietzsche's rejection of any and all transcendent things it makes sense that he'd want to reject truth conceived of in this way. What isn't clear is that he CAN do this, that is, that his view is warranted. The fact that the correspondence of theory of truth has implications that Nietzsche finds repulsive is no reason for thinking that it's false.Furthermore, without some notion of truth as correspondence, it's not clear that his earlier critique of moral concepts has any real bite.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hey you know what them Christians really piss me of walking about the place claiming all these absolutes of whats good and bad. Morality wasn't set in stone it evolved, there were different views before them and there sure as hell can be different views after them.