Friedrich Nietzsche – Master- and Slave – Morality

February 26, 2010 ayamiz
Tags: master, morality, Nietzsche, slave

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Moral-Problems-8th-Eighth/dp/B001F6L2JQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264996150&sr=8-3-spell

Quote: Every elevation of the type “man” has hitherto been the work of an aristocratic society–

and so will it always be— a society believing in a long scale of gradations of rank and differences of worth among human beings and requiring slavery in some form or other.

What I expect to learn: To learn what are the two types of morality based from Nietzsche’s point of view and the difference between the two types of morality.

Review:

Master and slave morality is the focus of this chapter. According to Nietzsche, a good society is a society wherein there is the leader or the superior must follow the master-morality. There are two types of morality as discussed by Nietzsche, the master-morality and the slave-morality. The master-morality is a type of morality, which states that the strong-willed, who can think on his own and knows when to keep silent, are the noble ones. Since all of these attitudes refer to dominance, it can be classified as the master-morality. On the other hand, the slave-morality is a type of morality, wherein people who are being dominated by the master, he who don’t trust anyone and don’t trust everything that is good, becomes the slave.

Being said the difference, we can see that the masters dominated the slaves, because the slaves are being suppressed while the masters are the one who dominates and are more powerful compared to the slaves. The master arouses good, while the slave arouses evil. In my opinion it applies most of the time in especially in third world countries. Masters are the ones who are dominating, because they have every opportunity to be at their best while the slaves are the ones who don’t have the opportunity to make a change in their lives. I believe that what Nietzsche wanted to point out is that, in a society, the leader must follow the master-morality, because a leader which lacks confidence and doesn’t trust other people, is not a good leader at all.

What I learned:

• What is master-morality and slave morality
• Difference of slave morality and master-morality

Integrative Questions:

1. What are the two types of morality, as pointed out by Nietzsche?

2. What is master-morality?

3. What is slave-morality?

4. What are the similarities of master-morality and slave-morality?

5. How do master and slave morality applies to the society?

Entry Filed under: Contemporary Moral Problems

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