Aaron Ridley explores Nietzsche's mature ethical thought as expressed in his masterpiece On the Genealogy of Morals. Taking seriously the use that Nietzsche makes of human types, Ridley arranges his book thematically around the six characters who loom largest in that work-the slave, the priest, the philosopher, the artist, the scientist, and the noble. By elucidating what the Genealogy says about these figures, he achieves a persuasive new assessment of Nietzsche's ethics.

Ridley's intellectually supple interpretation reveals Nietzsche's ethical position to be deeper and more interesting than is often supposed: the relation, for instance, between Nietzsche's ideal of the noble and the ascetic or priestly conscience does not emerge as a stark opposition but as a rich interplay between the tensions inherent in each. Equally, he shows that certain under-appreciated confusions in Nietzsche's thought reveal much about the positive aspects of the philosopher's moral vision.

The only book devoted entirely to the Genealogy, Nietzsche's Conscience offers a sympathetic but tough-minded critical reading of the philosopher's most important work. Delivered in clear and vigorous language and employing a broadly analytical approach, Ridley's commentary makes Nietzsche's reflections on morality more accessible than they have been hitherto.

About the Author

Aaron Ridley is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Associate Director of the Centre for Post-Analytic Philosophy at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. His other books include Music, Value and the Passions, also from Cornell.

Reviews

It is rare these days to come across a first-rate book purportedly on Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy, of which the first and foremost concern turns out to indeed be the philosophy of Nietzsche.

* Philosophy in Review *

Nietzsche's Conscience is an important contribution to the reading of Nietzsche. It begins at full tilt.

* Philosophical Quarterly *



Book Information
ISBN 9780801485534
Author Aaron Ridley
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 14mm