“One must shed the bad taste of wanting to agree with many. ‘Good’ is no longer good when one's neighbor mouths it. And how should there be a “common good”!
Akin to the title, Nietzsche’s work stresses the subversion of the societal concepts of morality, good and evil. For civilization to move forward the conventional concepts of virtue created by humanity should be set aside for people to follow new values. Every individual should trust their instincts for progress to take place in society. The statement stresses that commonality inhibits progress as good and evil were constructed to ensure shared aims. However, Nietzsche asserts these notions lose their value once they are common to everyone.
“Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.”
Nietzsche conveys that society should embrace philosophies that subvert the concepts built on the collective consciousness. He highlights that creativity that is reliant on common ideologies is not true artistic expression. Thus, the true essence lies in rebelling against the conventions, opposing the norms, and harboring instinctual thoughts. Accordingly, the assertion accentuates that only when an individual foster this mindset can their thoughts be considered ‘healthy’. Such mindsets pave the way for new ideas and notions that push for progress.
“To him who feels himself preordained to contemplation and not to belief, all believers are too noisy and obtrusive; he guards against them.”
The statement encompasses Nietzsche’s notion that intuition triumphs reasoned arguments. Despite the criticisms that come with trusting our gut, the audacity of following one’s instinct regarding values or morality is significant. Nietzsche critiques the constructs of morality built around logical reasoning or rather institutional thoughts. Thus the claim affirms that belief in such reasoning can sometimes be extremely faulty and that is when instincts play a major role in morality.
