Good and Evil

Abstract

This chapter examines Nietzsche’s genealogical account of the concepts “good and evil.” I suggest that the introduction of this conceptual pair involves two fundamental innovations, both of which motivated by ressentiment: a normative concept of equality, or the idea that all human beings have equal worth; and a certain conception of moral agency, centered around the possession of freedom of will, which underwrite a descriptive concept of equality, or the idea that all moral agents are not only subject to the new evaluative categories, but also may be expected to comply with them. I also examine the sense in which the invention of Christian morality constitutes an imaginary revenge, and argue that this indicates a change in the very character of the revenge, rather than an ordinary act of revenge that is merely imagined. I conclude with a discussion of the manner in which self-deception is involved in this imaginary revenge.