Beyond Good and Evil · Chapter
117 explained
A single, dense aphorism that challenges the notion of a unified 'I' or will, arguing that what we perceive as overcoming an emotion is merely the expression of a different, competing emotion or set of emotions.
What happens
A single, dense aphorism that challenges the notion of a unified 'I' or will, arguing that what we perceive as overcoming an emotion is merely the expression of a different, competing emotion or set of emotions.
Themes in this chapter
Psychology as the Fundamental Science
Core theme. The excerpt performs a psychological reduction, analyzing a moral act (overcoming an emotion) as a conflict between underlying drives, not a triumph of reason or 'true self'.
Will to Power
Implied. The dynamic described—one emotion's will overpowering another—is a microcosm of the will to power operating within the psyche, where the self is a battleground of competing forces.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Presents a psychological insight that deconstructs the concept of a singular, sovereign will, acting as a diagnostician of the self.
Key passages
“The will to overcome an emotion, is ultimately only the will of another, or of several other, emotions.”
Self-mastery is an illusion; what we call 'overcoming' a feeling is just one feeling or group of feelings defeating another.
Deconstructs the traditional view of willpower, framing internal conflict as a power struggle between affective forces, not a victory of a higher self.