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Single Idea 23440

[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 2. Source of Ethics / f. Übermensch ]

Full Idea

Nietzsche wants to judge actions not by what is done, but by the nature of the person who does them, and that is poisonous. We have to be horrified by what is done by Hitler and Stalin, without inquiring into their psychology.

Gist of Idea

Nietzsche's judgement of actions by psychology instead of outcome was poisonous

Source

comment on Friedrich Nietzsche (Beyond Good and Evil [1886]) by Philippa Foot - Interview with Philippa Foot p.37

Book Ref

-: 'Philosophy Now' [-], p.37

A Reaction

She says morality should focus on social needs, not on spontaneity, energy and passion. Nietzsche was very much a product of romanticism. Some of Nietzsche's heroes are military conquerors, so I think she is right.

The 36 ideas from 'Beyond Good and Evil'

7080 Metaphysics divided the old unified Greek world into two [Nietzsche, by Critchley]
7079 Nietzsche resists nihilism through new values, for a world of becoming, without worship [Nietzsche, by Critchley]
23440 Nietzsche's judgement of actions by psychology instead of outcome was poisonous [Foot on Nietzsche]
7078 The freedom of the subject means the collapse of moral certainty [Nietzsche, by Critchley]
6869 Nietzsche thinks the human condition is to overcome and remake itself [Nietzsche, by Ansell Pearson]
2860 The most boring and dangerous of all errors is Plato's invention of pure spirit and goodness [Nietzsche]
1568 Nietzsche felt that Plato's views downgraded the human body and its brevity of life [Nietzsche, by Roochnik]
2867 Christianity is Platonism for the people [Nietzsche]
11090 Why do we want truth, rather than falsehood or ignorance? The value of truth is a problem [Nietzsche]
20140 We shouldn't object to a false judgement, if it enhances and preserves life [Nietzsche]
7834 Great philosophies are confessions by the author, growing out of moral intentions [Nietzsche]
20355 The ranking of a person's innermost drives reveals their true nature [Nietzsche]
2868 Nature is totally indifferent, so you should try to be different from it, not live by it [Nietzsche]
2291 A thought comes when 'it' wants, not when 'I' want [Nietzsche]
2871 Wanting 'freedom of will' is wanting to pull oneself into existence out of the swamp of nothingness by one's own hair [Nietzsche]
20381 It is psychology which reveals the basic problems [Nietzsche]
2872 In the earliest phase of human history only consequences mattered [Nietzsche]
20137 The great person engages wholly with life, and is happy to endlessly relive the life they created [Nietzsche]
2874 Man is the animal whose nature has not yet been fixed [Nietzsche]
2875 That which is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil [Nietzsche]
2876 The thought of suicide is a great reassurance on bad nights [Nietzsche]
2877 Morality becomes a problem when we compare many moralities [Nietzsche]
2859 The idea of the categorical imperative is just that we should all be very obedient [Nietzsche]
2878 We see an approximation of a tree, not the full detail [Nietzsche]
20134 Moralities extravagantly address themselves to 'all', by falsely generalising [Nietzsche]
2879 In ancient Rome pity was considered neither good nor bad [Nietzsche]
2880 The greatest possibilities in man are still unexhausted [Nietzsche]
22394 Democracy diminishes mankind, making them mediocre and lowering their value [Nietzsche]
2881 Virtue has been greatly harmed by the boringness of its advocates [Nietzsche]
20139 Only aristocratic societies can elevate the human species [Nietzsche]
20373 A healthy aristocracy has no qualms about using multitudes of men as instruments [Nietzsche]
2882 Morality originally judged people, and actions only later on [Nietzsche]
2883 Noble people see themselves as the determiners of values [Nietzsche]
2884 The morality of slaves is the morality of utility [Nietzsche]
20382 The four virtues are courage, insight, sympathy, solitude [Nietzsche]
2885 The noble soul has reverence for itself [Nietzsche]