Nietzsche's On The Genealogy Of Morality

In order to understand the continental philosophy used in Nietzsche's, On the Genealogy of Morality, a careful analysis of the ascetic ideal must first take place. Within the third treatise, the ascetic ideal refers to a specific system of values that enables people to live in a world full of suffering. The ascetic ideal promotes values such as humility, chastity, poverty, and forms of selfcastigation. These are meant to serve as a means of numbing ourselves to the harsh nature of our world, something Nietzsche detests. Nietzsche further argues that ascetic idealists' direct human resentment of the world inwards on themselves as a means of coping with life, consequently we are in effect, denying life as a means of living.

Before we can analyze

Artists promote the ascetic ideal as they understand it through the philosophers they follow, for example the composer Wagner followed the ideology present in Schopenhauer's work, thus Wagnerian opera's exhibit values found in ascetic idealism. In addition to artists, philosophers promote the ascetic ideal. Unlike artists however, Nietzsche highlights that philosophers often practice ascetic idealism out of fear. He claims that many philosopher's hide themselves and their work under the guise of ascetic idealism in order to continue to practice philosophy free of persecution (much like how Descartes dedicated his Meditations' to the faculty of theology). In contrast, priests do not practice ascetic idealism out of fear or devotion, but as a means of achieving power over the

By controlling the weak (and preventing them from becoming strong human beings), these priests gain power and influence subsequently becoming more dangerous to the strong human beings. In this manner, Nietzsche compares the ascetic priests to a disease that grows stronger over time, eventually controlling and brain-washing enough followers to be able to reverse the system of life promoting values entirely (for example we now promote altruism as opposed to selfish independence) thus overwhelming the strong. De Conno 3

Nietzsche finishes his third treatise by examining the possible counters to the ascetic ideal. The greatest counter to the ascetic ideal is science. Nietzsche explains that science demolishes ascetic idealism by revealing flaws in arguments of faith. However, Nietzsche reminds us that both ascetic idealism and science share a similar goal. This goal is achieving a universal truth (e.g. we exist because of God, we exist because of The Big Bang), as a result science does not represent the exact antithesis of the