# The Philosopher as Creator of Values explained — Beyond Good and Evil

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

## What happens

Nietzsche distinguishes the true philosopher from the mere philosophical worker or scientist. The philosopher must have experienced all modes of thought but ultimately must be a commander and lawgiver who creates new values, using the past as a tool and imposing their will to power upon the future.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Philosopher of the Future

The chapter is a direct portrait of the philosopher of the future as a commander, lawgiver, and creator of values, explicitly asking if such philosophers exist or must come.

### Will to Power

Defined as the true philosopher's 'will to truth'; their knowing is creating, and their creating is law-giving, which is an expression of the Will to Power.

## Character check-ins

### Immanuel Kant

Presented as an exemplary 'philosophical worker' who fixes and formalizes existing valuations, in contrast to the true value-creating philosopher.

### Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Grouped with Kant as a 'philosophical worker' who systematizes prevailing 'truths' rather than creating new values.

### The Narrator

Insists on the distinction between philosophers and workers, and passionately defines the task of the true philosopher as value creation and law-giving.

## Key lines

> people finally cease confounding philosophical workers, and in general scientific men, with philosophers

We must stop mistaking scholarly systematizers for true philosophers.

_Core argument for distinction._

> this task itself demands something else—it requires him to create values.

The philosopher's essential duty is not to analyze but to invent new values.

_Defines the philosopher's primary function._

> The real philosophers, however, are commanders and lawgivers; they say: 'Thus shall it be!'

True philosophers are authoritative legislators who dictate the direction and purpose of humanity.

_Emphasizes command and authority._

> Their 'knowing' is creating, their creating is a law-giving, their will to truth is—Will to Power.

For them, knowledge is an act of creation, which establishes new laws, and this drive is the fundamental Will to Power.

_Links epistemology, creativity, and the central concept of will to power._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/211
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters