Essay Topics for Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil
1. Explain and evaluate Nietzsche's notion of the will to power.
2. Is Nietzsche right about "What is Noble"?
3. Is Beyond Good and Evil (1) a rejection or (2) a
redefinition of morality?
4. Select from the numbered sections of the text a single
sections which, in your view, both indicates some valuable
or challenging question for the modern reader and raises
some potentially important reservations one might want to
explore in relation to Nietzsche's thought. Discuss both
aspects of the selection you have made.
5. Discuss some significant elements of Nietzsche's style
of writing philosophy, using specific examples from the
text. Do you think there is any truth to the claim that
Nietzsche's language and especially his metaphors have
helped to create unnecessary objections to the philosophical
points he is making?
6. Nietzsche issues the call for a new form of philosophy,
a new breed of philosophers. What does he mean by this?
Discuss the basis for and the value of his repeated claims
for such a development.
7. How would accepting Nietzsche's analysis (in Beyond
Good and Evil) of human psychology, society, and history and
his exhortations about what is most important in human life
affect one's personal and political life?
8. Discuss Nietzsche's attitude to Socrates or Plato, as
expressed in Beyond Good and Evil. How does this aspect of
the book help to illuminate what is valuable (or not
valuable, or both) in Nietzsche?
9. "Nietzsche's theory of society is little more than a
callow social Darwinism." Discuss this quote with reference
to Beyond Good and Evil. Is there some substance to the
statement? Is it sufficient to sum up Nietzsche's views?
10. Write a review of Beyond Good and Evil from the
perspective of Karl Marx.
11. Nietzsche frequent discusses what he calls "will to
power." What does he mean by this term? Is this a useful
concept? If so, what does it usefully illuminate? What
might be some of its limitations?