Aphorism 50, Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil”: Understanding Nietzsche

When reading any of Nietzsche’s books, it’s common to get lost due to his intentionally unique style of writing (see aphorism 27). Numerous times, I found myself googling ‘What does Nietzsche mean by (insert any aphorism)’ to no avail. After studying Nietzsche at great length, I decided to fill that gap. In this series, I will unpack, analyze, and openly wrestle with the aphorisms in Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil. Each passage is pulled directly from the free e-text translated by Helen Zimmern. If you’ve found this series helpful, follow me to stay up to date here on Medium or X.com, and drop your thoughts in the comments.

Table of Contents:

Having trouble understanding a term or finding an aphorism? Check out the links below:

• Wilk Mayhem’s Nietzschean Dictionary
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 1: Prejudices Of Philosophers
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 2: The Free Spirit
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 3: The Religious Mood
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 4: Apophthegms and Interludes
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 5: The Natural History of Morals
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 6: We Scholars
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 7: Our Virtues
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 8: Peoples and Countries
• All Aphorisms from Chapter 9: What is Noble?
• Additional Resources

The Religious Mood: Aphorism 50

The passion for God: there are churlish, honest-hearted, and importunate kinds of it, like that of Luther — the whole of Protestantism lacks the southern DELICATEZZA.

Different types of people exhibit various types of passion for God. Northern Europeans, often of the protestant faith, have a loud, blunt, and aggressive manifestation of faith. This is contrary to that of Southern Europeans, generally of Catholic faith, who present their faith with delicacy (delicatezza). According to Nietzsche, cultural and physiologically inherited differences are the reason for this, as the Northern European fosters a barbaric spirit in a strong, overt, unrefined, passionate sense. This is a separation of instinctual style between these two groups, explored thoroughly in aphorism 46.

There is an Oriental exaltation of the mind in it, like that of an undeservedly favoured or elevated slave, as in the case of St. Augustine, for instance, who lacks in an offensive manner, all nobility in bearing and desires.

The Northern European passion for God is similar to that of a slave who feels chosen by and therefore grateful and indebted to those who have power (modernly, a teacher’s pet). Nietzsche’s mention of Oriental is in relation to Jews, whom he attributes the Christian slave-revolt to. St. Augustine serves as an example of these traits, who famously wrote Confessions and had much influence in Catholicism. Augustine, born in 354 CE, before converting and shifting his drives inward, manifesting guilt, had been known for his love of sex and ambition. Nietzsche says he lacks nobility (by Nietzsche’s definition), a common theme in chapter 9. See aphorism 45 for more on how guilt is turned inward from faith.

There is a feminine tenderness and sensuality in it, which modestly and unconsciously longs for a UNIO MYSTICA ET PHYSICA, as in the case of Madame de Guyon. In many cases it appears, curiously enough, as the disguise of a girl’s or youth’s puberty; here and there even as the hysteria of an old maid, also as her last ambition. The Church has frequently canonized the woman in such a case.

There’s a tenderness of feminine nature in the passion for God. An unconscious longing for the unio mystica et physica (mystical-and-physical union). This is a common critique Nietzsche has of Christianity; he views it as a system that turned men towards a feminine, passive nature. Madame de Guyon, who was a Catholic mystic who advocated for a seclusive, total surrender of the soul to God, is used to explain this mystical-and-physical union. This longing for the mystical-and-physical union is a disguise for repressed sexual desire, like that of a girl during puberty (Of course I need to do this aphorism), as was the case for Madame de Guyon. Since sexuality is repressed, God is the outlet for this instinctual longing, as it blocks the expression and desire. As the desire for an outlet builds, it grows into the “hysteria of an old maid”, manifesting as visions and martyr-complexes. The Church rewards the repression and intensity with canonization. See aphorism 47 for how this intensity swings between sin and immense faith.

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