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kOO E't iiTA-'UV^^ <'^3ft;>^^ :7^ ' -A'v^v .v'^j:* The -publishers will be -pleased to send, upon re- quest, an illustrated catalogue setting forth the purpose and ideals of The Modern Library, and describing in detail each volume in the series, C^Every reader of books will find titles he has been looking for, attractively printed, and at an unusually low price BEYOND GOOD AND RVIf. BY FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE Translated by HELEN ZIMMERN Introduction by WILLARD HUNTINGTON WRIGHT THE MODERN LIBRARY PUBLISHERS :NEWY0RK PUBLISHERS' NOTE Mr. Willard Huntington Wright, who contributes the In- troduction to this book, is recognized as one of tbe fore- most students and interpreters of Nietzsche in America. His book, "What Nietzsche Taught," is regarded by critics, both here and abroad, as an authoritative introduction to Nietzsche's philosophy. Mr. Wright is also the author of "The Creative Will" and many other works on philosophy and aesthetics. This book is reprinted by arrangement with the Mac- millan Company. Manufactured in the Uftited States of America for The Modem Libraryy Inc., by H.Wolff CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction vii Preface xv I Prejudices of Philosophers i II The Free Spirit 28 III The Religious Mood 52 .... IV Apophthegms and Interludes 72 ... V The Natural History of Morals 94 VI We Scholars 119 VII OurVirtues 141 VIII Peoples and Countries 170 IX What Is Noble? 197 Digitized by tine InternetArcliive in 2006witli funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/beyondgoodandeviOOnietuoft INTRODUCTION No philosopher since Kant has left so undeniable an im- print on modem thought as has Friedrich Nietzsche. Even Schopenhauer, whose influence colored the greater part of Europe, made no such widespread impression. Not only in ethics and literature do we find the moulding hand of Nietzsche at work, invigorating and solidifying; but in pedagogics £ind in art, in politics and religion, the influenci of his doctrines is to be encountered. The facts relating to Nietzsche's life are few and simple. -He was bom at Rodien, a little village in the Prussian prov- ince of Saxony, on October 15, 1844; and it is an interesting paradox that this most terrible and devastating critic of Christianity and its ideals, was the culmination of two long collateral lines of theologians. —There were two other chil- dren in the Nietzsche household a girl bom in 1846, and a son bom in 1850. The girl was named Therese Elizabeth Alexandra, and afterward 5he became the philosopher's closest companion and guardian and his most voluminous biographer. The boy, Joseph, did not survive his first year. When Nietzsche's father died the family moved to Naum- burg; and Friedrich, then only six years old, was sent to a local Municipal Boys' School. Later he was withdrawn and entered in a private institution which prepared the younger students for the Cathedral Grammar School. After a few years here Nietzsche successfully passed his examinations for the well-known Landes-Schule at Pforta, where he re- mained until 1864, enrolling the following term at the Uni- versity of Bonn. It was at Boim that a decided change came over his religious views; and it was here also that his great friendship for Friedrich Wilhelm Ritschl, the philologist, developed. When Ritschl was transferred to the University of Leipzig, Nietzsche followed him. Leipzig was the tuming-point of his life. Here he met Wagner; became acquainted with "Erwin Rohde; and discovered Schopenhauer. An interest vii — INTRODUCTION viii in politics also developed in him; and the war between Prussia and Austria fanned his youthful ardor to an almost extravagant degree. Twice he offered his services to the military, but both times was rejected on account of his shortsightedness. In the autumn of 1867, however, a new army regulation resulted in his being called to the colors, and he joined the artillery at Naumburg. But he was thrown from his horse in training and received a severe injury to his chest, which necessitated his permanent withdrawal from service. In October, 1868, Nietzsche returned to his work at Leip- zig, and shortly after, although but twenty-four, he was offered the post of Classical Philology at Bale. Two years later came the Franco-Prussian War, and he secured service as an ambulance attendant in the Hospital Corps. But his health was poor, and the work proved too much for him. He contracted diphtheria and severe dysentery, and it wasneces- sary for him to discontinue his duties entirely. His sister tells us that this illness greatly undermined his health, and was the first cause of his subsequent condition. He did not wait until he was well before resuming his duties at the University; and this new strain imposed on his already depleted condition had much to do witii bringing on his final breakdown. I In 1872, Nietzsche's first important work appeared ^'The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music"; and in 1873 he began a series of famous pamphlets which later were put into book form under the title of "Thoughts Out of Season." His health was steadily declining, and during the holidays he alternated between Switzerland and Italy in an endeavor to recuperate. In the former place he was with Wagner, but in 1876 his friendship for the composer began to cool. He had gone to Bayreuth, and there, after hearing "Der Ring des Nibelungen," he became bitter and disgusted at what he believed to be Wagner's compromise with Chris- tianity. But so strong was his affection for Wagner the man, that it was not until ten years had passed that he could bring himself to write the now famous attack which he had long had in mind. The year after the appearance of "Human Ail-Too- i INTRODUCTION ix Human" ("Mensckliches AUzu Mensckliches") Nietzsche's , illness compelled him to resign his professorship at Bale; and two more years saw the appearance of 'The Dawn of Day" ("Morgemoten"), his first book of constructive think- ing. The remainder of his life was spent in a fruitless endeavor to regain his health. For eight years, during all of which time he was busily e—ngaged in writing, he sought a climate that would revive him visiting in turn Sils-Maria in Switzerland, Genoa, Monaco, Messina, Grunewald, Tauten- burg, Rome, Naumburg, Nice, Venice, Mentone, and the Riviera. But to no avail. He was constantly ill and for the most part alone, and this perturbed and restless period of his life resolved itself into a continuous struggle against melancholy and physical suffering. During these eight years Nietzsche had written "Thus Spake Zarathustra" ("Also Sprack Zarathustra"), "The Joyful Wisdom" ("La Gaya Scienza"), "Beyond Good and Evil" ("Jenseits Gute und Bose"), "The Genealogy of Morals" ("Zur Genealogie der Moral"), "The Case of Wagner," "The Twilight of the Idols" {"Gdtzenddmmerung"), "The Antichrist" ("Der Antichrist"), "Ecce Homo," "Nietzsche contra Wagner,'* and an enormous number of notes which were to constitute his final and culminating work, "The Will to Power" ("Die Wille zur Macht"). The events during this ptnod. of Nietzsche's career were few. Perhaps the most important washis meeting with Lou Salome. But even this episode had small bearing on his life, and has been greatly emphasized by biographers because of its isolation in an existence out- wardly drab and uneventful. In January, 1889, an apopleptic fit marked the beginning of the end. Nietzsche's manner suddenly became alarming. He exhibited numerous eccentricities, so grave as to mean but one thing: his mind was seriously affected. There has long been a theory that his insanity was of gradual growth, that, in fact, he was unbalanced from birth. But there is no evidence to substantiate this theory. The statement that his books were those of a madman is entirely without foun- dation. His works were thought out in the most clarified manner; in his intercourse with his friends he was restrained and normal; and his voluminous correspondence showed no X INTRODUCTION change toward the end either in sentiment or tone. His insanity was sudden; it came without warning; and it is puerile to point to his state of mind during the last years of his life as a criticism of his philosophy. His books must stand or fall on internal evidence. Judged from that stand- point they are scrupulously sane. The cause—of Nietzsche's breakdown was due to a number of influences his excessive use of chloral which he took for insomnia, the tremendous strain to which he put his intellect, his constant disappointments and privations, his mental solitude, his prolonged physical suffering. We know little of his last days before he went insane. Overbeck, in answer to a mad note, found him in Turin, broken. Nietzsche was put in a private sanitarium at Jena. Recovering somewhat he returned to Naumburg. Later his sister, Frau Forster- Nietzsche, removed him to a villa at Weimar; and three years after, on the twenty-fifth of August, 1900, he died. He was buried at Rocken, his native village. A double purpose animated Nietzsche in his writing of "Beyond Good and Evil" which was begun in the summer of 1885 and finished the following winter. It is at once an explanation and an elucidation of "Thus Spake Zarathustra," and a preparatory book for his greatest and most important work, "The Will to Power." In it Nietzsche attempts to define the relative terms of "good" and "evil," and to draw a line of distinction between immorality and unmorality. He saw the inconsistencies involved in the attempt to har- monize an ancient moral code with the needs of modem life, and recognized the compromises which were constantly being made between moral theory and social practice. His object was to establish a relationship between morality and necessity and to formulate a workable basis for human con- duct. Consequently "Beyond Good and Evil" is one of hisM most important contributions to a new system of ethics, and f touches on many of the deepest principles of his philosophy. Nietzsche opens "Beyond Good and Evil" with a long chapter headed "Prejudices of Philosophers," in which he outlines the course to be taken by his dialectic. The expo- sition is accomplished by two methods; first, by an analysis ,, I