Nietzsche's Philosophy: Beyond Good And Evil

The beginnings of the practice of philosophy were rooted in the development of a universal truth and its relations to religious, artistic, and economic structures. Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th century philosopher, destroyed this practice entirely by “rebuilding” philosophy from the ground up, being completely skeptical of every finding that had come before him. This included the principles of Christianity, which Nietzsche criticized deeply in his work Beyond Good and Evil. He particularly denounced Christianity for its focus on “slave morality,” which he contrasts with “master morality” in Beyond Good and Evil, and its incessant emphasis on self-sacrifice. In 1992, Pope John Paul II illustrated and clarified these concepts through the Catechism
This sacrifice includes “the sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all self-confidence of spirit…” (Nietzsche 46). Nietzsche says that the reason that these “slaves” hide their aggression is because of the concept of master morality. The masters, or aristocracy, relish in lush and healthy lifestyles. Nietzsche believes that the masters can achieve this level of luxury due to their focus on taking care of themselves and the hard work that they utilize to get to the positions in which they reside, and views this reasoning as optimal. This view was controversial, however, and was seen by many readers as Nazi propaganda due to the editing done to Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche’s anti-Semitic sister before its publishing (Stanford