XXIX. The Etymology of ‘Good’ and ‘Bad”From the point of view of etymology (the study of the origin of words), one can obtain an insight into the genealogy of morality itself. In a number of different languages, the word ‘good’ developed to refer to features of nobility or autocracy. It came to designate the spiritually high-minded or the spiritually privileged. This development runs parallel to that of the word ‘bad’ which refers to features of the base, common, or low. In German the word ‘bad’ (schlecht) is the same as ‘simple’ (schlicht), and is merely descriptive of someone as common in contrast to the nobility. The development has not been noticed due to the destructive prejudice of democracy in modern times.
When the clerical case is the highest caste, they appropriate the word ‘pure’ and detach ‘good’ from social standing. Originally, purity was a matter of simple hygiene, but in the hands of the priestly aristocracy, it is transformed into an unhealthy brooding and emotional explosiveness. The metaphysics of the clergy finds purity b y repudiating the senses. Its discontent is to be ‘cured’ by ‘God’, which is the epitome of purity; pure nothingness. This made the passions dangerous, which in turn made the human being into an interesting animal with the consequence e that the human soul became deep and also became evil for the first time.
