On the Genealogy of Morals

Zur Genealogie der Moral, or On the Genealogy of Morals/Morality, is a polemic written by the 19th century German philosopher and philologist Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche in 1887. According to Nietzsche, the book was "meant to supplement and clarify" his previous work, "Beyond Good and Evil". It is primarily concerned with exploring the origins of morality, specifically, Christian morality. The book is written in three essays and a preface in the following order:

• Preface
  • Begins with the famous line, "We are unknown to ourselves, we knowers..."
• The First Essay: "'Good and Evil', 'Good and Bad'" – "'Gut und Böse', 'Gut und Schlecht'"
  • The first essay elaborates on his "noble" and "plebeian" morality . It focuses on the origins of these differing systems of morals and juxtaposes them.
• The Second Essay: "'Guilt', 'Bad Conscience', and Related Matters" – "'Schuld', 'schlechtes Gewissen', und Verwandtes"
  • The second essay traces the roots of bad conscience and guilt... both of which he uses to explain the invention of gods.
• The Third Essay: "What do ascetic ideals mean?" – "Was bedeutet asketische Ideale?"

References

'On the Genealogy of Morality' (1887) by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Carol Diethe of Middlesex University