Book Two: A Criticism of the Highest Values That Have Prevailed Hitherto
Concluding remarks concerning the criticism of morality§399 These are the things I demand of you however badly they may sound to your ears: that you subject moral valuations themselves to criticism. That you should put a stop to your instinctive moral impulse which in this case demands submission and not criticism with the question: “why precisely submission”? That this yearning for a “why” for a criticism of morality should not only be your present form of morality, but the sublimest of all moralities and an honour to yourselves and to the age you live in. That your honesty, your will, may give an account of itself and not deceive you: “why not”? Before what tribunal? The will not to let oneself be deceived is of different origin: a caution against being overpowered, exploited — one of life’s instincts of self-defence.