# 127 explained — Beyond Good and Evil

> Chapter companion for Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

A brief aphorism presenting a gendered perspective on science, portraying it as perceived by 'true women' as an invasive, shame-violating force that threatens to expose what is hidden beneath adornment and propriety.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Modernity

Implies a critique of modern scientific rationality as a corrosive, de-mystifying force that violates natural instincts and sensibilities, here specifically feminine 'shame' and privacy.

### Psychology as the Fundamental Science

Analyses a psychological instinct ('the sense of shame') and how it shapes a perspective (that of 'true women') towards an intellectual discipline, treating the feminine reaction as a psychological datum.

## Key lines

> In the eyes of all true women science is hostile to the sense of shame.

Women of genuine feminine sensibility view scientific pursuit as an enemy of modesty and privacy.

_Establishes a fundamental antagonism between a feminine virtue (shame) and the impersonal gaze of science._

> They feel as if one wished to peep under their skin with it⁠—or worse still! under their dress and finery.

They experience it as a desire to invasively look beneath their surface—first their skin, then, more offensively, beneath their clothing and social adornments.

_Uses a metaphor of escalating violation to emphasize the perceived indecency and threat of scientific exposure._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/127
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters