Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
7:54 First Essay
18:27 Second Essay
32:03 Third Essay


On the Genealogy of Morals is considered by many to be Nietzsche's masterpiece. It certainly is one of the more accessible works, as it (largely) lacks the poetry and allegory of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and is not as aphoristic as Beyond Good and Evil. On the Genealogy of Morals consists of three essays which will be tackled each in their own, separate video. The introductory part of the video aims to provide a solid understanding by first asking the question: "What exactly is Nietzsche's genealogical method?" and situating the relevance of the Genealogy in the bigger Nietzschean corpus (namely: the transvaluation of all values and setting humanity up for a philosophy and morality of the future.)

The second part tackles the first essay of Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals. Much of it will sound familiar to those who have read Beyond Good and Evil or Daybreak. Nietzsche makes a historical-genealogical (even linguistic) case for the good/bad and good/evil dichotomy.

In the third part, we see Nietzsche dive deep into prehistory towards the creation of a morality of custom which leads to man's instinct for cruelty being repressed, and finally, turn inwards.
The bad conscience, in this analysis of Nietzsche, is not "the voice of God" as Kant and Christianity claim. Rather, the bad conscience is the paradoxical self-torture and self-pleasure that results from a drive for cruelty which cannot be directed externally and therefore must wreck havoc internally.
This is a notoriously difficult essay and it has been somewhat overlooked as a result. With this video, we hope to do it justice.

In the fourth and final part, we arrive at the grand conclusion. Nietzsche explores the question: "What do ascetic ideals mean?" Throughout history and throughout different types of men: the artist (Wagner), the philosopher (Schopenhauer), the aesthete (Kant) but most importantly, the priest (Christianity) and the scholar (scientists like Darwin and Copernicus). Nietzsche will argue that a Will to Nothingness underpins the ascetic ideal: it gives meaning to our suffering. Because, as Nietzsche said it at the start: Man would sooner will nothingness, than not will at all.

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