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Nietzsche's On The Genealogy Of Morality

Decent Essays

In section 13 of Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality, he presents his audience with a metaphor, “That the lambs feel anger toward the great birds of prey does not strike us as odd: but that is no reason for holding it against the great birds of prey that they snatch up the little lambs for themselves.” (Section 13, 25). In this passage, Nietzsche details the complex relationship between the birds of prey and the lambs. Firstly, I argue that the birds of prey represent the noble class, and the lambs represent the slave class. This metaphor offers insight into their complex relationship that ultimately led to a shift from noble to slave morality. Secondly, I argue that this metaphor aids Nietzsche's broader goals in this piece by explaining the …show more content…

I will show this by doing a close reading of section 13 and detailing the claims made by Nietzsche throughout book 1.
In section 13, Nietzsche begins by saying, “But let us come back: the problem of the other origin of “good,” of the good one was conceived by the man of ressentiment, demands its conclusion.” (Section 13, 25). Here Nietzsche is setting up who the lambs represent in his moral theory. He is arguing that whomever falls under the category of “the man of ressentiment” is also the group who originated their own definition of good. This group of people would be the slaves or “the lambs.” When Nietzsche says, “the man of ressentiment” he is talking about a very specific emotion that occurred between the lambs and the birds of prey. When the slaves saw how powerful, noble, and war-like the upper

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