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Nietzsche

When you'll study it
Semester 1
CATS points
15
ECTS points
7.5
Level
Level 6
Module lead
Aaron Ridley
Academic year
2024-25

Module overview

Reading the works of Friedrich Nietzsche is both exciting and troubling. He sets out to undermine the basis of many of our beliefs about values. Christianity, he believed, has had a powerfully negative effect on the potential of human beings. His method of ‘genealogy’ seeks to reveal the origins of our present-day values and make us question them. What are our values, and what should they be, if we no longer believe in God? Is morality good for us, or does it stifle great achievements? Why do we hold the values we do? What do our cherished beliefs in the values of compassion, equality, and safety from harm tell us about our own psychology? Are we under illusions about our own identity and freedom? This module will explore these issues through close readings of Nietzsche’s seminal works, On the Genealogy of Morals and Beyond Good and Evil.

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