On the Genealogy of Morality

On the Genealogy of Morals
Title page of the first edition.
AuthorFriedrich Nietzsche
Original titleZur Genealogie der Moral
SubjectEthics
Published1887
Publication placeGermany
Preceded byBeyond Good and Evil (1886) 
Followed byThe Case of Wagner (1888) 

On the Genealogy of Morality: A Polemic (German: Zur Genealogie der Moral: Eine Streitschrift; sometimes also translated as On the Genealogy of Morals) is an 1887 book by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It consists of a preface and three interrelated treatises ('Abhandlungen' in German) that expand and follow through on concepts Nietzsche sketched out in Beyond Good and Evil (1886). The three treatises trace episodes in the evolution of moral concepts with a view to confronting "moral prejudices", specifically those of Christianity and Judaism.

Some Nietzschean scholars[who?] consider Genealogy to be a work of sustained brilliance and power as well as his masterpiece.[1] Since its publication, it has influenced many authors and philosophers.

  1. ^ C. Janaway, Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche's Genealogy (OUP, 2007), p. 1