The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV — Nietzsche — John Shaqi
The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV
Nietzsche · en
To appraise the value of a man according to his _utility_ to mankind,
or according to what he costs it, or the _damage_ he is able to inflict
upon it, is just as good and just as bad as to appraise the value
of a work of art according to its _effects._ But in this way the
value of one man compared with another is not even touched upon. The
"moral valuation," in so far as it is _social_ measures men altogether
according to their effects. But what about the man who has his own
taste on his tongue, who is surrounded and concealed by his isolation,
uncommunicative and not to be communicated with; a man whom no one has
fathomed yet--that is to say, a creature of a higher, and, at any rate,
_different_ species, how would ye appraise his worth, seeing that ye
cannot know him and can compare him with nothing?
_Moral valuation_ was the cause of the most enormous obtuseness
of judgment: the value of a man in himself is _underrated,_
well-nigh _overlooked,_ practically _denied._ This is the remains of
simple-minded teleology: the value of man _can only be measured with
regard to other men._
879.
_To be obsessed by moral considerations_ presupposes a very low
grade of intellect: it shows that the instinct for special rights,
for standing apart, the feeling of freedom in creative natures, in
"children of God" (or of the devil), is lacking. And irrespective of
whether _he_ preaches a ruling morality or _criticises_ the prevailing
ethical code from the point of view of his own ideal: by doing these
things a man shows that he belongs to the herd--even though he may be
what it is most in need of--that is to say, a "shepherd."
880.
We should substitute morality by the will to our own ends, and
_consequently_ to the means to them.
881.