Nietzsche's Essay: Beyond Good And Evil

The driving force behind Beyond Good and Evil is Nietzsche’s claim that if we fully come to understand the nature of our innate psychology, we will come to the realization that traditional philosophical methods are corrupt as well as the assumptions that they are founded on. Although Nietzsche does not present this claim in the form of a clear argument (with premises, supporting arguments, and a definite conclusion) I believe his main points can be derived from the preface and part one, particularly aphorism 23. The following are what I believe to be the main points that N makes in BGE and from which the claims in the following parts (2-9) stem from. However, it is important to first insert the caveat that the form in which I present N ‘s claim is one that he himself would object to. The reasons for this will be addressed in section 1.3. First, we are all born with

The primary falsity is that traditional philosophy professes to uncover “universal truths”. Nietzsche believes this to be the greatest deceit in all of philosophy and leads him to claim that such philosophers as Plato are mere “Tartuffes” (hypocrites). N believes this because if all reasoning is subservient to the fundament will, then there simply cannot be universal truths, only individual truths. Philosophers falsely believe that they are reasoning objectively when they are actually just expressing their own wills and desires. When they claim that their philosophies contain “universal truths” they are merely acting out the fundamental will’s desire to dominate others. This is especially true of moral philosophy because it brings out our deepest and most strongly held desires. Thus, all philosophy has been a mere confession of the individual’s desires and values and an attempt to impose them on