Tentative Response - Nietzsche

1. Good vs. Bad and Good vs. Evil, are two dimensions of values for Nietzsche. What’s the difference? What relation to power? to excellence?

Nietzsche claims the “good” people as the powerful, including the noblemen and the healthy. The good people define goodness, and what actions are considered good. They are good in contrast to the “common people,” or the “bad,” who would include the weak and sick. The good possess the master morality, which values venturing and expanding their dominion, becoming “uncaged beasts.” In this conquest, the good ignore and do not care about the opinion the bad, and the bad in turn are negative and reactionary, resenting the good and master morality. They portray the good in the worst light possible, making them “evil.” The negative and resenting nature of the bad makes up the slave morality. Slave morality also encompasses the ascetic ideals, the quest for knowledge that increases the feeling of power. Nietzsche sympathizes more with master morality, which he believes to be self-encompassing, the desire for the “feeling” of power is unnecessary. Nietzsche believes that slave morality is mediocre and prevents progress, making the population insipid and dull. The good should not be ashamed of their strength, however, and should not pity or care for the weak.