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Beyond Good and Evil · Chapter

Chapter 86 explained

A brief, aphoristic observation on the duality of women's self-perception, noting that beneath their personal vanity lies an impersonal scorn for the abstract concept of 'woman'.

What happens

A brief, aphoristic observation on the duality of women's self-perception, noting that beneath their personal vanity lies an impersonal scorn for the abstract concept of 'woman'.

Themes in this chapter

  • Psychology as the Fundamental Science

    The excerpt offers a sharp psychological insight into a perceived internal contradiction within women's self-regard, treating vanity and scorn as fundamental psychological drives.

Key passages

  • In the background of all their personal vanity, women themselves have still their impersonal scorn⁠—for “woman.”

    Despite their individual self-importance, women harbor a deep, generalized contempt for the very idea of womanhood.

    Highlights a psychological split between personal identity and a judgmental, abstract view of one's own kind.