Beyond Good and Evil (book) - Definition

Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future (Jenseits von Gut und Böse) is a major 19th Century philosophical work by Friedrich Nietzsche.

First published in 1886 at Nietzsche's own expense, the book was not considered important at first. In it, Nietzsche denounced what he considered to be the moral vacuity of 19th century thinkers. He attacked philosophers for what he considered to be their lack of critical sense and their blind acceptance of Christian premises in their considerations of morality and values. Beyond Good and Evil is a comprehensive overview of Nietzsche's mature philosophy, written partly with the motive of giving further explanation to ideas presented in his previous work, Also Sprach Zarathustra.

The book consists of 296 aphorisms, ranging in length from a few sentences to a few pages. These aphorisms are grouped thematically into nine different chapters and are bookended by a preface and a poem. While each aphorism can stand on its own, there is also something of a linear progression between aphorisms within chapters and from one chapter to another. Nonetheless, each aphorism presents a distinctive point of view, making the book difficult to overview.

The final chapter presents Nietzsche's conception of "what is noble": a solitary, suffering soul, who has risen so far above the common rabble as to be unrecognizable and totally misunderstood by them. He closes the book with a poem, or "after song", entitled From High Mountaintops about such a noble soul sitting on a mountaintop.

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Beyond Good and Evil

• Free eBook of Beyond Good and Evil (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4363) at Project Gutenberg — English language edition.
• Free eBook of Beyond Good and Evil (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7204) at Project Gutenberg — German language edition.