Book Two: A Criticism of the Highest Values That Have Prevailed Hitherto
II: Criticism of Morality§275 Very few succeed in discovering a problem behind all that which constitutes our daily life, that to which we have become accustomed throughout the ages, our eye does not seem capable of seeing such things: at least, this seems to me to be the case in so far as our morality is concerned.
“Every man should be the preoccupation of his fellows”; he who thinks in this way deserves honour: no one ought to think of himself.
“Thou shalt”: an impulse which, like the sexual drive, cannot explain itself, is set apart and is not condemned as all the other instincts are — on the contrary, it is made to be their standard and their judge!
The problem of “equality”, in the face of the fact that we all thirst for distinction: here, on the contrary, we should demand of ourselves what we demand of others. That is so tasteless and obviously insane; but it is felt to be holy and of a higher order. The fact that it is opposed to common sense is not even noticed.
Self-sacrifice and self-abnegation are considered distinguishing, as are also the attempt to obey morality implicitly and the belief that one should be every one’s equal in its presence.
The neglect and the surrender of Life and of well-being is held to be distinguished, as are also the complete renunciation of individual valuations and the severe exaction from every one of the same sacrifice, “The value of an action is once and for all fixed; every individual must submit to this valuation”.
We see: an authority speaks — who speaks? We must condone it in human pride, if man tried to make this authority as high as possible, for he wanted to feel as humble as he possibly could by the side of it. Thus God speaks!
God was necessary as an unconditional sanction which has no superior, as a “Categorical Imperator”: or, in so far as people believed in the authority of reason, what was needed was a “Unitarian metaphysics” by means of which this view could be made logical.
Now, admitting that faith in God is dead: the question arises once more: “who speaks”? My answer, which I take from biology and not from metaphysics, is: “the herd instinct speaks”. This is what desires to be master: hence its “thou shalt”! It will allow the individual to exist only as a part of a whole, only in favour of the whole, it hates those who detach themselves from everything it turns the hatred of all individuals against him.