Beyond Good and Evil (Penguin Classics)

Challenges even present day ideology and given that the book was written a Long time ago, shows the class that the writer was able to convey.

A must-read for fans of philosophy

I bought this as a companion to the audio book. I always do that so that I can read certain parts as a listen to the book because it helps me understand. This book is too information dense to listen to for me however. The number of thoughts/ideas per sentence is just to high and I'm going to have to read this one without listening to it. Perhaps I will be able to listen to it when I'm done reading. He's a profound thinker and I personally find many of Nietzsche's arguments moving and "meaningful" to this day. If you are a philosophy nerd like me I'm sure that you will like the book but be warned for my feeble mind it cannot be take it in while driving.

In contemporary society in recent decades there has been spirited debate about the nature of morality and as to whether there is such a thing as absolute truth. Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the most consequential philosophers of the modern age, was pondering these questions in the nineteenth century and set forth his thoughts in these matters in "Beyond Good and Evil." Nietzsche not only did not believe in Christianity or religion but questioned even the nature of truth, and whether we really want it or should want it. His famous doctrine of will to power asserted that humans value well-being and position more than truth, and that people use their intellects not to attempt to find the truth but to invent ways to buttress positions that they already hold. This is true in many cases, but in the course of life those who really seek truth do arrive at unwelcome conclusions in the realms of religion, politics, and philosophy, and a chief psyops technique employed by knaves is to attempt to manipulate people into giving up their beliefs by accusing their prey of merely using their rationalization capabilities to shield themselves from accepting the memes with which the manipulator (unavailingly) hopes rewire the prey's brain. Nietzsche also offers his famous examinations of master and slave temperaments and morality, but is flatly in error when he suggests that morality should be submitted to rank—the idea that an immoral action suddenly becomes "moral" when committed by someone powerful is obviously absurd, as well as not in line with Enlightenment principles. The author's farcical idea that some people only exist to be useful to others is just so self-evidently wrong that it may well seem simply incomprehensible to many twenty-first century readers—apparently Nietzsche invented reasons not to agree with Thomas Jefferson's inarguable maxim stating that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs nor a favored few booted and spurred. The author also offers many other observations in the realms of art, philosophy, and religion, but contradicts himself in places. There is a section of maxims, some of which are keenly insightful. Nietzsche also looked at the state of Europe and Germany, noting and opposing German anti-Semitism and foreseeing the integration of Europe. As with other Penguin Classics, there is a good introduction, and "Beyond Good and Evil" is certainly worth reading and grappling with even if you do not agree with all of Nietzsche's conclusions.

The book is split up into mini paragraphs (usually they take up 3/4 of the page but they vary) and each is about a different topic. It's one of those books that make you pause and think about what you just read before you continue on.

(For Hollingdale, Penguin Classics edition) Great introduction that provides guidance for those unfamiliar with Nietzsche’s big ideas and their general meaning. It also includes useful notes that provide context and translation of Latin text. I found the Hollingdale translation much more readable than Kaufman, having not been able to finish but four chapters of the later in the time it took me to finish all of the former. Beyond Good and Evil is a great place to start for understanding Nietzsche the philosopher. I would recommend this specific edition. Penguin Classics is in general a safe bet for quality translations, good notes, and pretty books.

This book is absolutely incredible. The literature, the language and the philosophy is sophisticated and spectacular. His arguments are extremely sophisticated and indisputable. He was a brilliant man and this book is a proof.

in great condition & i enjoy reading his books

great

Beyond Good and Evil" by Friedrich Nietzsche is a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of morality, truth, and individuality. Nietzsche challenges traditional values and urges readers to question societal norms, embrace intellectual freedom, and create their own values. His poetic and bold writing style, combined with deep insights, makes this a timeless philosophical masterpiece that continues to inspire and provoke thought. A must-read for anyone seeking to break free from conventional thinking!

Hi, this is more about this particular print of the book. The quality of paper, printing, fonts, and spacing is extremely poor. I highly do not recommend exactly this print. Choose some other publisher.

Do not read this author’s book. If you want to read philosophy books you should start to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius , and Epictetus’s books.

This book is somewhat difficult to rate and describe, no wonder it gets so many polarized reviews. The first thing is the form: it’s literally a collection of paragraphs (296 actually) that range from a couple of lines to two or three pages. In the middle of the book there’s a section of aphorisms and it ends with a poem. The paragraphs are mostly self-contained, with some thematic similarity on each chapter. However, they do not necessarily follow a logical order, and Nietzsche doesn’t seem very fond of clearly stating each argument and counter-argument in a more logical, “mathematical” way us modern readers may have grown accustomed in such texts due the massive influence of Descartes (no wonder, since Nietzsche doesn’t seem to be a big fan of the guy). This structure leads you back and forth throughout the text, as old themes are discussed again and again through a new point of view, but he rarely bothers to summarize or state all the points he tries to reach. The themes are varied and, frankly, I couldn’t understand every meaning that he’s trying to get into. When he hits home he hits hard, however, that would be roughly 50% of the book. 30% of it is somewhat foggy to me. I believe that, aside from the unusual structure of the work, he makes tons of references and allegories when arguing which are lost in the text if you are not familiar with such works (another way to say I should read more broadly, but the book’s notes - Penguin Classics - didn’t offer that much help either). Nietzsche likes to compare things that seem different but, at closer inspection, are not that much. However, aside from the allegories and references, he frequently uses sarcasm and irony, which I understand to be somewhat lost in translation. Finally, the remaining 20% of the book amounts to babbling: he usually makes statements without any argument to back them up in these passages (which seem to contradict his criticism of blind faith on narratives) and in no theme this is more pronounced than when he speaks about women. I refrain from judging works of the past with our current moral views, but his affirmations in these segments are not only misogynist but come out of nowhere, which I speculate may have to do with his failed relationships. The best chapters of the book for me were “On the Natural History of Morals”, where he questions the existence of inherent moral values (and argues that we decide what we want to do and “reason around it); “What is Noble?”, where he discusses at length his concept of “master and slave morality”, of being good versus being weak, the human condition of suffering and that freedom demands responsibility (which may be why some people prefer to defer decisions to others); and “The Religious Nature”, where he questions our faith in narratives, beginning with Christianity but also poking at science and even philosophy itself as ways to cope with reality. The “Maxims Interludes” section, the collection of 123 aphorisms in which he discusses a variety of themes in a more direct form, makes clear his predilection for irony. Here the phrases are more simple and direct, he relies less on references (but no less on allegories) and the text is crammed with meaning. This segment and the last poem (From the High Mountains), which is surprisingly good in getting his message across, serve very well as good summaries to the themes of the books and I would recommend them to be read at the end of it. Despite somewhat mixed views on the book as a whole, his ideas in the segments that “work” are very good, good enough to entice my interest to read more of his works (and maybe those allegories he’s so fond of).