Julia_98 reviewed Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
Thinking Without Handrails and Learning to Stand There
4 stars
When I read Beyond Good and Evil, I felt as if familiar moral ground had been deliberately pulled away beneath my feet. The book sits at the edge of what later becomes known as Existential Literature, but it does not offer comfort or guidance. Instead, it challenges the very desire for certainty. From the opening aphorisms, I sensed Nietzsche was not asking me to agree with him. He was asking me to think without relying on inherited beliefs.
Nietzsche questions morality, truth, religion, and philosophy with relentless intensity. As I moved through the fragmented structure, I felt both stimulated and unsettled. He argues that moral systems are not universal truths but expressions of power, instinct, and historical habit. Reading this, I felt resistance rise in me. Some ideas felt abrasive, even arrogant. Yet I could not ignore how sharply he exposed the assumptions I rarely question. The book …
When I read Beyond Good and Evil, I felt as if familiar moral ground had been deliberately pulled away beneath my feet. The book sits at the edge of what later becomes known as Existential Literature, but it does not offer comfort or guidance. Instead, it challenges the very desire for certainty. From the opening aphorisms, I sensed Nietzsche was not asking me to agree with him. He was asking me to think without relying on inherited beliefs.
Nietzsche questions morality, truth, religion, and philosophy with relentless intensity. As I moved through the fragmented structure, I felt both stimulated and unsettled. He argues that moral systems are not universal truths but expressions of power, instinct, and historical habit. Reading this, I felt resistance rise in me. Some ideas felt abrasive, even arrogant. Yet I could not ignore how sharply he exposed the assumptions I rarely question. The book demanded attention rather than obedience.
What struck me most was Nietzsche’s attack on dogmatism. He distrusts philosophers who claim objectivity while hiding personal values behind abstract language. That critique made me reflect on how often ideas are presented as neutral when they are deeply subjective. His praise of strength, creativity, and self overcoming felt both inspiring and dangerous. I felt pulled between admiration and caution, unsure where confidence ends and domination begins.
The style itself shaped my experience. The aphorisms forced me to pause repeatedly. I could not read passively. Each section felt like a challenge issued directly to the reader. At times, I felt mentally exhausted. At other times, I felt oddly energized, as if my thinking had been sharpened through friction.
By the end, I did not feel resolved. I felt altered. Beyond Good and Evil did not give me a new system to replace the old ones. It stripped systems away and left me responsible for what comes next. Closing the book, I felt the weight of that responsibility. Nietzsche did not promise meaning. He demanded that I confront how I create it, and that demand stayed with me long after the final page.