Beyond Good and Evil · Chapter
64 explained
The aphorism exposes the pursuit of 'knowledge for its own sake' as a final, subtle moral trap, arguing it re-entangles the seeker in the very moral framework they seek to transcend.
What happens
The aphorism exposes the pursuit of 'knowledge for its own sake' as a final, subtle moral trap, arguing it re-entangles the seeker in the very moral framework they seek to transcend.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Traditional Philosophy
Attacks the foundational ideal of pure, disinterested knowledge as a covert moral value.
Critique of Modernity
Identifies the modern scientific ethos ('knowledge for its own sake') as a secular continuation of moral dogma.
Characters to notice
- The Narrator
Delivers the critical aphorism, positioning themselves as an unmasker of morality's hidden snares.
Key passages
““Knowledge for its own sake”—that is the last snare laid by morality: we are thereby completely entangled in morals once more.”
The ideal of pure, disinterested knowledge is not freedom from morality, but its ultimate and most subtle trap, re-capturing us within its framework.
Core argument of the chapter: even the most seemingly neutral intellectual pursuits are morally conditioned.