PREFACE

      FIRST BOOK. EUROPEAN

      A PLAN I. Nihilism 1. Nihilism as an Outcome of the Valuations and Interpretations of Existence which have prevailed hitherto. 2. Further Causes of Nihilism 3. The Nihilistic Movement as an Expression of Decadence 4. The Crisis: Nihilism and the Idea of Recurrence

      II. CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF EUROPEAN NIHILISM (a) Modern Gloominess (b) The Last Centuries (c) Signs of Increasing Strength

       SECOND BOOK. A CRITICISM OF THE HIGHEST VALUES THAT HAVE PREVAILED HITHERTO.

      I. CRITICISM OF RELIGION 1. Concerning the Origin of Religions 2. Concerning the History of Christianity 3. Christian Ideals

      II. CRITICISM OF MORALITY 1. The Origin of Moral Valuations 2. The Herd 3. General Observations concerning Morality 4. How Virtue is made to Dominate 5. The Moral Ideal A. A Criticism of Ideals B. A Criticism of the " Good Man," of the Saint, etc. C. Concerning the Slander of the so-called Evil Qualities D. A Criticism of the Words: Improving, Perfecting, Elevating 6. Concluding Remarks concerning the Criticism of Morality

      III. CRITICISM OF PHILOSOPHY 1. General Remarks 2. A Criticism of Greek Philosophy 3. The Truths and Errors of Philosophers 4. Concluding Remarks in the Criticism of Philosophy

       THIRD BOOK. THE PRINCIPLES OF A NEW VALUATION.

      I. THE WILL TO POWER IN SCIENCE (a) The Method of Investigation (b) The Starting-Point of Epistemology (c) The Belief in the " Ego." Subject (d) Biology of the Instinct of Knowledge. Perspectivity (e) The Origin of Reason and Logic (f) Consciousness (g) Judgment. True False (h} Against Causality (i) The Thing-in- Itself and Appearance (j) The Metaphysical Need (k) The Biological Value of Knowledge (l) Science

      II. THE WILL TO POWER IN NATURE 1. The Mechanical Interpretation of the World 2. The Will to Power as Life (a) The Organic Process (b) Man 3. Theory of the Will to Power and of Valuations

      III. THE WILL TO POWER AS EXEMPLIFIED IN SOCIETY AND IN THE INDIVIDUAL 1. Society and the State 2. The Individual

      IV. THE WILL TO POWER IN ART

       FOURTH BOOK. DISCIPLINE AND BREEDING.

      I. THE ORDER OF RANK 1. The Doctrine of the Order of Rank 2. The Strong and the Weak 3. The Noble Man 4. The Lords of the Earth 5. The Great Man 6. The Highest Man as Lawgiver of the Future

      II. DIONYSUS

      III. ETERNAL RECURRENCE

       PREFACE.

      1. CONCERNING great things one should either be silent or one should speak loftily: loftily that is to say, cynically and innocently.

      2. What I am now going to relate is the history of the next two centuries. I shall describe what will happen, what must necessarily happen: the triumph of nihilism. This history can be written already; for necessity itself is at work in bringing it about. This future is already proclaimed by a hundred different omens; as a destiny it announces its advent everywhere for this music of to-morrow all ears are already pricked. The whole of our culture in Europe has long been writhing in an agony of suspense which increases from decade to decade as if in expectation of a catastrophe: restless, violent, helter-skelter, like a torrent that will reach its borne, and refuses to reflect yea, that even dreads reflection.

      3. On the other hand, the present writer has done little else, hitherto, than reflect and meditate, like an instinctive philosopher and anchorite, who found his advantage in isolation in remaining outside, in patience, procrastination, and lagging behind; like a weighing and testing spirit who has already lost his way in every labyrinth of the future; like a prophetic bird-spirit that looks backwards when it would announce what is to come; like the first perfect European nihilist, who, however, has already outlived nihilism in his own soul who has out grown, overcome, and dismissed it.

      4. For the reader must not misunderstand the meaning of the title which has been given to this evangel of the future. "The Will to Power: An Attempted Revaluation of All Values" with this formula a counter-movement finds expression, in regard to both a principle and a mission; a movement which in some remote future will supersede this perfect nihilism; but which nevertheless regards it as a necessary step, both logically and psychologically, towards its own advent, and which positively cannot come, except on top of and out of it. For, why is the triumph of nihilism inevitable now? Because the very values current amongst us today will arrive at their logical conclusion in nihilism, because nihilism is the only possible outcome of our greatest values and ideals, because we must first experience nihilism before we can realize what the actual worth of these "values" was. . . . Sooner or later we shall be in need of new values.

      FIRST BOOK. EUROPEAN NIHILISM

      1. A PLAN. 1. Nihilism is at our door: whence comes this most gruesome of all guests to us? To begin with, it is a mistake to point to "social evils," "physiological degeneration," or even to corruption as a cause of nihilism. This is the most straightforward and most sympathetic age that ever was. Evil, whether spiritual, physical, or intellectual, is, in itself, quite unable to introduce nihilism, i.e., the absolute repudiation of worth, purpose, desirability. These evils allow of yet other and quite different explanations. But there is one very definite explanation of the phenomena: nihilism harbors in the heart of Christian morals. 2. The downfall of Christianity, through its morality (which is insuperable), which finally turns against the Christian God Himself (the sense of truth, highly developed through Christianity, ultimately revolts against the falsehood and fictitiousness of all Christian interpretations of the world and its history. The recoil-stroke of "God is Truth" in the fanatical belief, is: "All is false." Buddhism of action. . . .). 3. Doubt in morality is the decisive factor. The downfall of the moral interpretation of the universe, which loses its raison d’etre once it has tried to take flight to a beyond, meets its end in nihilism. "Nothing has any purpose" (the inconsistency of one explanation of the world, to which men have devoted untold energy, gives rise to the suspicion that all explanations may perhaps be false). The Buddhistic feature: a yearning for nonentity (Indian Buddhism has no fundamentally moral development at the back of it; that is why nihilism in its case means only morality not overcome; existence is regarded as a punishment and conceived as an error; error is thus held to be punishment a moral valuation). Philosophical attempts to overcome the "moral God " (Hegel, Pantheism). The vanquishing of popular ideals: the wizard, the saint, the bard. Antagonism of "true" and "beautiful" and "good" 4. Against "purposelessness" on the one hand, against moral valuations on the other: how far has all science and philosophy been cultivated hereto fore under the influence of moral judgments? And have we not got the additional factor the enmity of science, into the bargain? Or the prejudice against science? Criticism of Spinoza. Christian valuations everywhere present as remnants in socialistic and positivistic systems. A criticism of Christian morality is altogether lacking. 5. The Nihilistic consequences of present natural science (along with its attempts to escape into a beyond). Out of its practice there finally arises a certain self-annihilation, an antagonistic attitude towards itself a sort of anti-scientificality. Since Copernicus man has been rolling away from