| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | How does Nietzsche's genealogical method differ from traditional moral philosophy in the primary question it asks? | Traditional moral philosophy asks "What is good?" or "What ought we to do?". Nietzsche's genealogy asks a prior question: where do our moral values come from and what purposes have they served? | | What are the two dimensions of Nietzsche's genealogical method, and what does each investigate? |

Historical: Traces moral concepts back to specific cultural and social conditions.
Psychological: Examines the human drives, desires, and power relations that produced these concepts.

| | How does Nietzsche critique the foundations of morality proposed by Kant and religious traditions? |

Kant: Grounded morality in pure reason (categorical imperative).
Religion: Grounded morality in God's commands.
Nietzsche's critique: Both ignore the "human, all-too-human" origins of values (ordinary human needs, fears, and power games).

| | What are the specific focuses of the first two essays in Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality? |

First Essay: The origins of "good" and "evil" (contrasted with "good" and "bad").
Second Essay: The origins of guilt and bad conscience.

| | Give two examples of etymological evidence Nietzsche uses in the First Essay to show that "good" and "bad" originally referred to social hierarchy. |

esthlos (Greek) / bonus (Latin): Originally denoted noble social rank or warrior status, not moral virtue.
schlecht (German): Originally meant "simple" or "common" (schlicht), not morally bad.

| | What does Nietzsche mean by "the gray" of moral investigation, and what does he contrast it with? | "The gray" refers to the painstaking, empirical examination of historical documents. He contrasts it with the dogmatism of philosophers who assert moral truths through abstract speculation. | | How does the genealogical method transform traditional meta-ethical debates? | Instead of debating whether moral values are objective or subjective in the abstract, it investigates how specific values arose historically and whose interests they serve. | | What is Nietzsche's perspectivism, and how does he defend it against the charge of simple moral relativism? |

Perspectivism: All knowledge and moral judgments arise from a particular standpoint; there is no "view from nowhere."
Defense: Perspectives are not equally valid; some are life-affirming (enhance vitality/excellence) while others are life-denying (suppress instinct/glorify suffering).

| | What psychological accusation does Nietzsche make against traditional moral philosophers (like Plato, Kant, and the utilitarians)? | He accuses them of projecting their own moral prejudices onto reality and then falsely "discovering" them as objective, rational truths. | | What is ressentiment, and what role does it play in the genealogy of morality? | A psychological state of suppressed resentment and hostility felt by the weak toward the strong. It is the emotional origin of slave morality, where the weak invert values to label strength as "evil" and weakness as "good." | | How does the concept of the "will to power" explain the existence of competing moral systems? | Moral codes are not neutral descriptions of reality but expressions of power; they reflect the drive of a particular group to impose their own values on others as authoritative norms. | | What is Nietzsche's key methodological distinction regarding the history of a practice like punishment? | The origin of a practice and its current purpose are entirely separate. The physical practice remains, but its meaning is fluid and changes over time (e.g., from debt payment to deterrence). | | Compare Nietzsche's critique of dominant moral values with Marxist ideology critique. What is their key point of disagreement? | Both agree that dominant moral values serve the interests of a ruling group. However, Marx locates the origin of this distortion in economic relations, whereas Nietzsche locates it in psychological drives (strong vs. weak). | | How does Nietzsche's genealogy challenge Kant's claim that moral duties are derived from pure practical reason? | Nietzsche argues that Kant's universal moral law is actually a historically contingent product of a specific tradition, namely Christian morality secularized. | | What is Nietzsche's critique of utilitarian ethics (Bentham and Mill) regarding happiness? | He argues that grounding morality in happiness merely reflects the values of a particular type of person (the comfortable bourgeois) while ignoring the value of suffering and self-overcoming. | | Compare Nietzsche's approach to moral origins with David Hume's. What is the key difference? | Both agree that moral judgments arise from sentiment and custom rather than reason. However, Nietzsche goes further by exposing the hidden power dynamics and psychological conflicts behind those sentiments. | | How does Nietzsche's view of history differ from Hegel's dialectical history? | While both view ideas as having a developmental history, Nietzsche rejects Hegel's teleology; for Nietzsche, history has no rational direction or necessary endpoint. | | Why does Nietzsche criticize English moralists like Herbert Spencer and Paul Rée? | He finds their evolutionary/utility-based accounts of morality psychologically shallow because they assume altruism and usefulness easily explain moral origins, ignoring deeper, darker power dynamics. | | Perspectivism is the epistemological view that there is no "view from nowhere," while ressentiment is the psychological state of suppressed envy and hostility that drives slave morality. | Perspectivism is the epistemological view that there is no "view from nowhere," while ressentiment is the psychological state of suppressed envy and hostility that drives slave morality. | | The French philosopher Michel Foucault adopted Nietzsche's genealogical method to analyze how institutions of power like prisons and hospitals produce categories of self-understanding. | The French philosopher Michel Foucault adopted Nietzsche's genealogical method to analyze how institutions of power like prisons and hospitals produce categories of self-understanding. | | Nietzsche was influenced by Schopenhauer's concept of the will, but rejected Schopenhauer's conclusion of resignation, choosing instead to affirm life. | Nietzsche was influenced by Schopenhauer's concept of the will, but rejected Schopenhauer's conclusion of resignation, choosing instead to affirm life. |

1. Being human6 subtopics

2. Aesthetics3 subtopics

3. Epistemology3 subtopics

4. Ethics3 subtopics

5. Philosophy of religion3 subtopics

6. Philosophy of science3 subtopics

7. Political philosophy3 subtopics

8. Social philosophy3 subtopics

9. HL extension: Philosophy and contemporary issues3 subtopics

10. Prescribed philosophical texts12 subtopics

IB Philosophy 10.5.1 the Genealogical Method Flashcards