On the Genealogy of Morality
Original German
Eine Streitschrift.
Die drei Abhandlungen, aus denen diese Genealogie besteht, sind vielleicht in Hinsicht auf Ausdruck, Absicht und Kunst der Überraschung, das Unheimlichste, was bisher geschrieben worden ist. Dionysos ist, man weiß es, auch der Gott der Finsterniß. — Jedes Mal ein Anfang, der irre führen soll, kühl, wissenschaftlich, ironisch selbst, absichtlich Vordergrund, absichtlich hinhaltend. Allmählich mehr Unruhe; vereinzeltes Wetterleuchten; sehr unangenehme Wahrheiten aus der Ferne her mit dumpfem Gebrumm laut werdend, — bis endlich ein tempo feroce erreicht ist, wo Alles mit ungeheurer Spannung vorwärts treibt. Am Schluß jedes Mal, unter vollkommen schauerlichen Detonationen, eine neue Wahrheit zwischen dicken Wolken sichtbar. — Die Wahrheit der ersten Abhandlung ist die Psychologie des Christenthums: die Geburt des Christenthums aus dem Geiste des Ressentiment, nicht, wie wohl geglaubt wird, aus dem „Geiste“, — eine Gegenbewegung ihrem Wesen nach, der große Aufstand gegen die Herrschaft vornehmer Werthe. Die zweite Abhandlung giebt die Psychologie des Gewissens: dasselbe ist nicht, wie wohl geglaubt wird, „die Stimme Gottes im Menschen“, — es ist der Instinkt der Grausamkeit, der sich rückwärts wendet, nachdem er nicht mehr nach außen hin sich entladen kann. Die Grausamkeit als einer der ältesten und unwegdenkbarsten Cultur-Untergründe hier zum ersten Male an’s Licht gebracht. Die dritte Abhandlung giebt die Antwort auf die Frage, woher die ungeheure Macht des asketischen Ideals, des Priester-Ideals, stammt, obwohl dasselbe das schädliche Ideal par excellence, ein Wille zum Ende, ein décadence-Ideal ist. Antwort: nicht, weil Gott hinter den Priestern thätig ist, was wohl geglaubt wird, sondern faute de mieux, — weil es das einzige Ideal bisher war, weil es keinen Concurrenten hatte. „Denn der Mensch will lieber noch das Nichts wollen als nicht wollen“... Vor Allem fehlte ein Gegen-Ideal — bis auf Zarathustra. — Man hat mich verstanden. Drei entscheidende Vorarbeiten eines Psychologen für eine Umwerthung aller Werthe. — Dies Buch enthält die erste Psychologie des Priesters.
Musean translation
A complete machine-assisted Musean translation directly from the German of the 1908 Insel edition, including its concluding poem. This early edition's readings and omissions are retained, not replaced with later critical restorations.
A Polemic.
The three essays that make up this Genealogy are perhaps, in expression, intention, and the art of surprise, the most uncanny things yet written. Dionysus, as everyone knows, is also the god of darkness.—Each time a beginning designed to mislead: cool, scientific, even ironic, deliberately a foreground, deliberately keeping us waiting. Gradually, greater unease; isolated flashes of lightning; very unpleasant truths sounding from afar in a muffled rumble—until at last a furious tempo is reached, where everything drives forward under immense tension. At the end, each time, amid utterly terrifying detonations, a new truth becomes visible between thick clouds.—The truth of the first essay is the psychology of Christianity: the birth of Christianity from the spirit of resentment, not, as people tend to believe, from “the Spirit”—a countermovement in its very essence, the great uprising against the rule of noble values. The second essay gives the psychology of conscience: it is not, as people tend to believe, “the voice of God in man”—it is the instinct of cruelty turning backward once it can no longer discharge itself outward. Cruelty as one of the oldest foundations of culture, one without which culture cannot be conceived, is brought to light here for the first time. The third essay answers the question of where the immense power of the ascetic ideal, the priestly ideal, comes from, although it is the harmful ideal above all others, a will bent on bringing things to an end, an ideal of decadence. Answer: not because God is at work behind the priests, as people tend to believe, but for want of anything better—because it has been the only ideal so far, because it had no competitor. “For man would rather will nothingness than not will”… Above all, there was no counterideal—until Zarathustra.—I have been understood. Three decisive preliminary studies by a psychologist toward a revaluation of all values.—This book contains the first psychology of the priest.
Plain English translation
A complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the same German edition, including its concluding poem. This is the 1908 text, not a modern critical edition.
A Polemic.
In their expression, intention, and art of surprise, the three essays that make up this Genealogy may be the most unsettling things ever written. Dionysus, as we know, is also the god of darkness.—Each starts in a way that is meant to mislead: cool, scientific, even ironic, deliberately staying on the surface, deliberately keeping you waiting. Gradually, there is more unease. Isolated flashes of distant lightning. Very unpleasant truths begin to sound from far away with a low rumble—until at last the pace grows fierce and everything drives forward under enormous tension. Each time, at the end, amid utterly terrifying explosions, a new truth appears between thick clouds.—The truth of the first essay is the psychology of Christianity: Christianity's birth from the spirit of resentment, not from “the Spirit,” as people tend to believe. It is a countermovement in its very nature, the great revolt against the rule of noble values. The second essay gives the psychology of conscience. Conscience is not “the voice of God in man,” as people tend to believe. It is the instinct for cruelty turning back on itself once it can no longer discharge itself outward. Here, for the first time, cruelty is brought to light as one of culture's oldest foundations, one we cannot imagine culture without. The third essay answers the question of where the enormous power of the ascetic ideal, the priestly ideal, comes from, even though it is the supremely harmful ideal: a will to bring things to an end, an ideal of decline. The answer: not because God is at work behind the priests, as people tend to believe, but for lack of anything better—because it was the only ideal so far, because it had no rival. “For man would rather will nothingness than not will”… Above all, there was no opposing ideal—until Zarathustra.—I have been understood. Three decisive preliminary studies by a psychologist for a revaluation of all values.—This book contains the first psychology of the priest.
About this section
On the Genealogy of Morality is part of Ecce Homo by Friedrich Nietzsche. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 13 of 17 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the European tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.