My demand upon the philosopher is known, that he take his stand beyond good and evil and leave the illusion of moral judgment beneath himself.
Moral judgments agree with religious ones in believing in realities which are no realities.
Morality is merely an interpretation of certain phenomena - more precisely, a misinterpretation. Moral judgments are therefore never to be taken literally so understood, they always contain mere absurdity. A first example, quite provisional. Under the same word, however, the most divergent tendencies are concealed. They are weakened, they are made less harmful, and through the depressive effect of fear, through pain, through wounds, and through hunger they become sickly beasts.