Man's Suffering in Nietsche's "On the Genealogy of Morality"

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into a conscious and creative purpose. By making this distinction between force and power, Nietzsche recognizes that the expression of power is necessary for progress beyond what is natural. Kraft on its own is enough to sustain, however macht is what causes development.
Nietzsche's first essay in the Genealogy focuses on the emergence of good and bad as psychological infrastructure. Nietzsche proposes that the beginning of `good' in prehistory was a separation of the weak from the strong. He refers to the strong as the masters and the weak as the slaves, a theme that can be traced through time when considering that terms describing those in power imply `good'. King, nobleman, aristocrat are titles associated with inherent `goodness', while the common folk or plebians are seen as `bad', at least when it comes to being one. Nietzsche observes how in prehistory, good has been ascribed to those with more physical prowess, as they were the ones most likely to survive and overpower ...

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choose to endure this suffering because they believe it is justified; that we owe our life to our ever growing ancestry and that the suffering we endure will lead to something useful. Nietzsche claims bad conscience is a suffering that is an end to itself since it can only be redeemed by a non-existent God.
Ascetic ideals created by faith are what keep man from becoming self-redeemable. Concepts such as humility, generosity, chastity, are ultimately self-indulgent and serve no purpose other than the ones presented in religion. However, Nietzsche does not dismiss ascetic ideals altogether as he sees their value in art. Art is the overcoming of a suffering and can only be successful if ...

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