Words, Words, Words...

All,

It is easy to get lost in Nietzsche's prose, so in this post I am going to provide a list of terms you should notice as you read him. Even if you have already read him, I guarantee that these are basic to having anything like a working understanding of this text. So please make sure that you understand them insofar as he describes, defines and/or utilizes them. The alternative is


Genealogy
Value(s) and Moral(s, ity)
Good and Evil v. Good and Bad
Noble and Slave
"Jews" v. Judaism (e.g., for FN, Jesus is the highest and most natural expression of Judaism...)
ressentiment
Creativity v. passivity
Promises and Forgetfulness
Bad Conscience: Guilt (Schuld) and Debt (Schulden)
Justice and punishment
"Pregnant with a future"
Ascetic Ideals and Ascetic Priest (most impressive creation ever!)
Kant (Nietzsche's characterization)
Pity and Meaning of Suffering
Platonism = Christianity
Value of Truth Itself...

These should constitute signposts more than anything else. Sometimes it is hard to see what is important given such a short period of time, and such a text. Thus, my purpose here is not to scare or burden you, but to provide a useful guide of important moments in the process of thought that is the Genealogy. Again, avoid Sparknotes, Wiki, etc. on Nietzsche like the plague. The form and the content are united insofar as this is a process of thought rather than something which admits to summarization. In other words, love him or hate him, you have to read through it to get it. Otherwise, again,


One other thing: If you aren't paying attention, you may think that Nietzsche is an anti-Semite. If you came away with this impression, you need to read it again. Nietzsche actually considers the Jews the most creative and "willful" people in the history of the world, so it would be the grossest of contradictions for him to denigrate them. In short, it would be about as smart as this guy (and I really hope this picture is undoctored, and I believe it is genuine given the stupidity of the statement even if the spelling were correct...)


Cheers,

-W.