Narrator Steven Crossley

Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to the Philosophy of the Future is basically
a summary of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies and basic predictions for
the future. First published in 1886, the book is made up of nearly three
hundred statements ranging from one-line aphorisms to "rants" that are
several pages in duration. In his book, Nietzsche denounces what he considers
to be the meaningless moralities of nineteenth century scholars and thinkers.
He criticizes his contemporaries for following Christianity and its morals
without question. Essentially, Nietzsche has written Beyond Good and Evil as
a critique of philosophy, religion, science, politics, and ethics. He feels
that his contemporaries are proceeding in the wrong direction; he has no
qualms about revealing their mistakes.

Because of Nietzsche's attitudes and criticism toward his contemporaries,
Beyond Good and Evil functions as a note to future thinkers, a warning per
se about what is to come and what to avoid. However, it is apparent that
Nietzsche had plenty of advice for his audience; quite possibly even too
much. Though Nietzsche touched on important themes such as truth and
morality, his somewhat manic and cyclic style, as well as the abundance
of information that he included in his book transformed what was intended
to be a manual for future thinkers into a chaotic diatribe in which too
many ideas are presented.

Beyond Good and Evil is one of Nietzsche's most important works and, although
it is relatively easy to read, it is one of the more difficult to fully grasp
on a first reading. The thesis is, as the title alludes, that morality is
ultimately relativistic - that right and wrong are not absolutes but are
considerably flexible - and variable in different societies at all times.

Although he qualifies his views as opinions rather than facts and asks his
readers to examine his premises critically before agreeing with his views,
Nietzsche leaves no doubt that he is confident that all previous philosophers
were wrong about important precepts and he alone is right. His criticism of
his immediate predecessors is somewhat more restrained than in some of his
other works and directs his harshest criticism at Plato for his fabrications
of "Pure Spirit and Transcendental Goodness."

Nietzsche was fervently opposed the prevailing religious concepts of morality.
His reputation as being anti-Christian was, and still is, sufficient grounds
to inspire considerable criticism of his philosophy. As much as his critics
might disagree with Nietzsche's philosophy, they cannot simply dismiss it.
Nietzsche intelligence and persuasiveness make him a formidable figure in
field of moral philosophy. His influence on modern philosophical theory is
considerable and it is likely that his contributions will continue to inspire
controversy for some time to come.

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