Beyond Good and Evil | Study Guide

Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil is an extended critique of Western European morality. In the author's view, philosophy has been tainted by Christian and Platonic (referring to the Greek philosopher Plato) ideas since the Roman Empire first embraced Christianity. In his view the hypocritical "slave morality" of Christian Europe imposes a limited perspective on society and is responsible for a new norm of mediocrity. Nietzsche believes that the new philosopher must push philosophy beyond the absolutes of good and evil to incorporate new thinking that supports the higher development of humanity. These free spirits will not only overcome useless paradigms but will also conquer their own weaknesses to pursue knowledge and uncover as many truths as they can bear. Most of the ideas in Beyond Good and Evil appear in other books by Nietzsche, such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra, but this text is perhaps the clearest, as well as the most systematic, presentation of his ideas.