"Weak" Summary

Okay so, for those who may have missed a day of class this week or for those who need a fresh recap, here is a summary of what has gone down in Dr. J’s class this week.

          We’ve been discussing a philosopher named Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche believes that genealogy relates to morality. What does that exactly mean? Well he has split his philosophy in to two categories: the aristocratic or nobles vs. the slaves. The aristocratic, preferably known as the nobles, are the good. The slaves are the bad. But what determines why the nobles are considered good and what determines that the slaves are bad? The noble believe they are good because they are beloved by God. Because they are loved by God, they are wise, beautiful, wealthy, strong, and etc. They are also the ”yes-sayers”. The slaves on the other hand, are not loved by God. Therefore, they are not wise, beautiful, wealthy, strong and etc. The slaves are unable to discharge their will and cannot do the things that the “good” can.

          Nietzsche also discusses the slave revolt in morality. This is where it can get a little confusing to understand. What he makes clear is that the slaves are weak people. They are not just weak because they are not strong, but because the slaves have a mentality that their weakness is strength; AKA: the slaves believe in morals to try to hide their weakness. The slaves see the nobles as evil, because they have the power and strength that the slaves don’t. Nietzsche explains that the slaves came up with morals to try to make up for their lack of strength. If you’re still confused, think about this scenario: A kid is being beat up at school by another student for lunch money, and the kid being beat up does nothing. He doesn’t fight back, he stays passive. What did the kid who was beat up do? He did nothing. Therefore, he is weak. If the kid had fought back and showed his strength, he would be considered noble. Some opinions might be that the kid did right by not fighting back, by refraining from violence. They say that is the right thing to do because that is what their morals have taught them. But that is exactly what Nietzsche would consider a slave-like mentality.

          We’ve also briefly discussed what an “ubermensch” is. An Ubermensch is someone who can say “yes” to their life. They are the ones who are content with everything they have experienced in life and who would not go back and change a thing about it. Basically someone who legit lives by “no regrets.”

          Overall, Nietzsche’s mentality about morals is that they are useless for nobles and vital for slaves. Morals pretty much only preserve the weak.