Master–slave morality (German: Herrenmoral und Sklavenmoral) is a central theme in Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy, particularly in his books On the Genealogy of Morals and Antichrist. Nietzsche argues that there are two fundamental types of morality: "master morality" and "slave morality". Master morality values pride and power, while slave morality values kindness, empathy, and sympathy. Master morality judges actions as good or bad, unlike slave morality, which judges by a scale of good or evil intentions.
For Nietzsche, a
morality is inseparable from the culture that values it, meaning that each
culture's language, codes, practices, narratives, and institutions are informed
by the struggle between these two moral structures. This means that we can find
a culture of slave morality and on of master morality.
What is Nietzsche's Master Morality?
Nietzsche defined master morality as the morality of the strong-willed. For him, morality in its theological sense of "love thy neighbor" is always slave morality, since it's based on the false idealization of weakness. True master morality is one which makes up its own rules, being "Beyond Good and Evil". Power is the ultimate value for Nietzsche (see "will to power"), and power means the ability to be the master of one's own life.
Fore Nietzsche, the
essence of master morality is nobility. Other qualities include courage,
truthfulness, trustworthiness, open thinking and an accurate sense of one's
self-worth. In master morality, people define the good based on whether it
benefits them and their pursuit of self-defined personal excellence. This does
not negate good, since the strong-willed man values such things as good
because they aid him in his will to power.
What is Slave Morality?
According to Nietzsche, masters create morality, while slaves respond to master morality with their slave morality by accepting it as their own. A master is strong while the slave is weak, but the slave does not value his own actions but rather devalues everyone else's. Slave morality is characterized by obedience, fatalism, pessimism and cynicism. Slave morality is created in opposition to what master morality values as good and is by no means self-reliant.
Slave morality deflates
one's will to power through its "castration" by morals. The salve
does not wish to become master, but rather have everyone else as slaves like
him. He seeks the security of the group and not the courage of the self-made
master. The true source of the slave's morality is not goodness or god, but
the master who imposes them on him. The slave willingly obeys since he does not
have to power to choose for himself.
See also: Hegel's master-slave dialectic vs. Nietzsche's master and slave morality
