# 23 explained — Beyond Good and Evil

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

## What happens

The chapter declares that all previous psychology has been hindered by moral prejudices, proposing a new psychology conceived as the 'Morphology and development-doctrine of the Will to Power.' It argues that moral biases have blinded even intellectual inquiry and that a true physio-psychology must confront the uncomfortable truth that 'bad' impulses are fundamental to life's economy. The psychologist who dares this voyage, sacrificing conventional morality, elevates psychology to the 'queen of the sciences,' the path to all fundamental problems.

## Themes in this chapter

### Psychology as the Fundamental Science

Explicitly argues psychology, reconceived as the study of the will to power, is the 'queen of the sciences' and the path to all fundamental problems.

### Will to Power

Proposes psychology should be the 'Morphology and development-doctrine of the Will to Power,' establishing it as the core explanatory principle for life and drives.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Positions himself as a daring adventurer and psychologist, proposing a radical new psychology based on the will to power and calling for the overthrow of moral prejudices in the field.

## Key lines

> All psychology hitherto has run aground on moral prejudices and timidities, it has not dared to launch out into the depths.

Traditional psychology has failed because it is constrained by moral fears and has avoided profound, uncomfortable truths.

_Sets up the need for a new, fearless psychology._

> The power of moral prejudices has penetrated deeply into the most intellectual world... and has obviously operated in an injurious, obstructive, blinding, and distorting manner.

Moral bias corrupts even the most seemingly objective intellectual pursuits, damaging and distorting understanding.

_Identifies the pervasive enemy of clear psychological insight._

> If... a person should regard even the emotions of hatred, envy, covetousness, and imperiousness as life-conditioning emotions... he will suffer from such a view of things as from seasickness.

Accepting that destructive impulses are essential and necessary for life is a deeply unsettling, nauseating realization.

_Uses vivid metaphor to describe the psychological cost of this new perspective._

> We sail away right over morality, we crush out, we destroy perhaps the remains of our own morality by daring to make our voyage thither—but what do we matter.

The pursuit of this new knowledge requires us to transgress and possibly destroy our own moral sensibilities, a sacrifice deemed necessary.

_Emphasizes the radical, self-sacrificial nature of the psychologist's task._

> Psychology is once more the path to the fundamental problems.

True psychology, properly reconceived, provides the essential route to solving the most basic philosophical questions.

_The chapter's concluding, declarative thesis._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/23
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters