Abstract

Nietzsche's GM 1 is now a recognized masterpiece, but there are still widely varying views about its historical aims and methods.2 What is clear is that Nietzsche's decision to call this work a "genealogy" signals that its purpose is to trace morality's ancestors in the history of human valuing.3 It is also generally agreed that this genealogy is intended to serve a critical function, as Nietzsche himself says, "we need a critique of moral values, for once the value of these values must itself be called into question—and for this we need a knowledge of the conditions and circumstances out of which they have grown [...] developed and shifted [...]". Indeed, Nietzsche's GM is regarded as strikingly...