UNACHUKWU IFEOMA 170107119

INTRODUCTION
Friedrich Nietzche belongs to the Existentialist school of thought whose primary focus was on
the idea of freedom and choice, and also, the authenticity of human existence. They rejected the idea
of having fixed moral standards and also moral beliefs given to man by the gods. Nietzche’s moral
philosophy was mainly critical in nature as it was directed at traditional European morality and
Religion. Nietzche believed morality to be a danger of all dangers and religion was a tool to promote
this danger. This paper is an attempt to shed more light on the ideas of Nietzche concerning moral
values and also, highlight some oppositions raised against it.
NIETZCHE’S VIEWS ON MORAL VALUES
Nietzche is a passionate critic of morality who criticized it on all levels. He is of the view that
morality generally is a bad thing because it is not life-enhancing but rather it thwarts the possibility
of attaining the highest excellence in life. On the issue of moral values, Nietzche argues that there are
no absolute moral values. He urges for a scrutiny of moral values because they are created by man
and therefore, are expressions of personal preference. His critical analysis led him to making a clear
distinction between “the master morality” and “the slave morality”. He defined the master
morality as the morality of the self-determined and strong-willed. This morality holds the values of
pride and power in high regard. This type of morality is attributed to the “Nobles” in the society who
are the owners of production. According to Nietzche, the masters created the concept of “good and
bad” but not as a moral term but a descriptive term. On the other hand, is the slave morality, This is
the morality of the Herds(servants) in the society. They turned the concept of “good and bad” to a
moral term. Slave morality is a response of slaves to the master morality. The slaves regarded any
attributes ascribed to the masters as bad e.g. courage, strength, wealth, competitiveness and so on
while they viewed the values concerned with them as good e.g. charity, meekness, humility, et al.
This is where Religion comes in as it is used as a tool to promote this slave morality. Christianity
elevated the quality of slaves, therefore causing people to lose their human strength in order to
emulate the lives of the slaves mostly because Christianity states that “it is hard for a rich man to
enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” The consequence of this action is that people started living
inauthentic lives in order to make Heaven. The society became characterized with deceit and guilt
because of the fear of loosing the Kingdom of God. The slave morality caused the society to be weak
and lack creative capabilities. Due to these negative effects, Nietzche advises people to avoid the
slave morality glorified by Christianity and create their own values
CRITICISM
There seems to be some inconsistencies with the claims of Nietzche on moral values and its
relation to religion. The question of If Nietzche can totally reject Christianity was posed. He thinks
of slave morality glorified by Christian morality as invaluable. He argues that real values are created
by the Nobles. Nietzche contrasted Christians with Jesus whom he regarded as a unique individual
who established his own moral evaluations. Hence the question is, “Is Jesus classified as a
Nietzchean great man?”. If the answer is yes, he would be contradicting his earlier claims on
Christian morality as it is affiliated with Jesus Christ.
In summary, Nietzche was right to emphasize value inquiry because values should be
independent of personal preferences. However, the inconsistencies found in his claims makes his
theory somewhat contradictory in nature. He gives an insight on how Christianity has helped to
shape how morality is viewed in the society. Nietzche presented the world with a philosophy of life
that called for a rigorous re-evaluation of all values.