Beyond Good and Evil · Chapter
Chapter 177 explained
A brief, aphoristic reflection on the fundamental difficulty, perhaps impossibility, of being truly truthful about the nature of truthfulness itself.
What happens
A brief, aphoristic reflection on the fundamental difficulty, perhaps impossibility, of being truly truthful about the nature of truthfulness itself.
Themes in this chapter
Psychology as the Fundamental Science
The excerpt treats 'truthfulness' not as a simple virtue but as a deep psychological problem to be investigated, questioning whether anyone has possessed the self-awareness to define it authentically.
Perspectivism
Implies that all claims about truth are conditioned by the perspective of the claimant, casting doubt on the possibility of an objective, 'sufficiently truthful' account of truthfulness itself.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Poses the skeptical, probing question about the essence of truthfulness, implicitly positioning themselves as an examiner of this profound psychological and philosophical problem.
Key passages
“With regard to what “truthfulness” is, perhaps nobody has ever been sufficiently truthful.”
No one may have ever been honest or self-aware enough to genuinely define what it means to be truthful.
A meta-skeptical statement that questions the very foundation of intellectual honesty and self-knowledge.