Familiar with Friedrich Nietzsche's material?

Question

What do you think he meant by the following quote?
And what does it mean to you?

"What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil."

I've read much of Nietzsche's work, and am interested in what others think of his writings.

Nietzsche is often misunderstood, labeled as a "nihilist" and philosopher, when in fact, he opposed the concept of "philosophy" and any sort of organized process that turn people into robots rather than free-thinking individuals.
Also, another important detail that may clear some misconceptions of him - when he was sick (and eventually died,) his sister manipulated many of his writings, so there is loads of confusion surrounding some of his work (she was anti-Semitic, whereas, Nietzsche was not.)

About the answers...
Didn't agree with some, but thank you, though Buckshot made me chuckle.

Eti - Yes, we have gone over this many times, and that was quite an in-depth look into the book, grazie butt-munch.

Turboslut - You understand Niezsche in a way that most people don't, it was refreshing to read.

Captain Atom - Interesting point you made.

Gremlin - Great answer. Agree with you entirely on that.

Harly Q + Harihara - Thanks for the new insights on the quote.

Answer 1

first, the answer above that says nietzsche painted everything black and white is ridiculous. the title alone, beyond good and evil, refers to the exact opposite of that mentality. nietzsche detested black and white thinking, calling it lazy and a lack of integrity.

the quote you mention might be a reference to the new testament. jesus taught the commandments were not about the pretense of obeying arbitrary rules to the letter to satisfy god's vanity. he said all the commandments were one commandment - love thy neighbor as thyself. nietzsche made reference to this more than once, and this quote is in that same vein.

trying to do the right thing often comes down to sorting out pretenses of good and evil, as thought everything in life belongs in one bin or the other. acting from the heart supersedes any lazy rationalization of what it means to be human.

Answer 2

Ciao piccola. I know that you and i will have the same view on this since we've discussed morality many times, even though we see "love" differently.
The aphorism was from one of Nietzsche's many genius books ‘Beyond good and evil’, when Nietzsche published this book in 1886 he told a friend that it was a book that would not be read properly until around the year 2000, he saw that knowledge is never objective but always serves some interest or unconscious purpose and that the 'slave morality' of Christianity has helped build a foolish system of values which comfort failure, to comprehend this quote one must understand that there are those who support ALL their views of life on a scale of ‘morality’ or good and evil, then there are those who base views of life BEYOND good and evil. Nietzsche examination of what genuine love is not in the typical pious or religious context, in fact a greater part of the book "beyond good and evil" unmasks dogmatism and religious morality.
It seems that the majority of those who claim they are experts on ‘agape’ or unconditional love are also the same ones who declare, “kill em’ all and let God sort em’ out” when talking about issues of foreign wars. a most interesting way of looking at love.
The link below is a transcript of a lecture thats informative for those who want to understand Nietzsche a little better.

Answer 3

Very well said. However, my acquaintance with Nietzche is too less or to be frank only once I have read his material. And as any one else I knew him for his most famous quote" GOD is DEAD".

This quotation means what he said to me. Love always is dis-considerate of the good and the evil on the part of the receiver. I mean the giver (end) does not look in to the good and evil of the receiver. Simply it is showered. However, In such a union when love is a unison there is neither the giver nor the receiver, but there exists only one, IDEALLY!

Answer 4

Love is an act of will which transcends good and evil - an assertion of choice which is neither good or bad, but the way one determines to be. The choices one makes out of love are fundamentally different from those with other motivation. I think that's what he meant, but I cannot agree. If a man determines to harm me or someone about whom I care, that he acts out of love is of no significance to me, and I will stop him if it is possible. I think most people feel this way.

Answer 5

Good question.. I would think that when one is acting out of love, the action itself can not be judge as good or evil.. to be blunt.. trying to read into it any farther might be to miss the point.. but if you must, its a look at human nature as neither good nor evil but just is.. as love just is...with all its positive and negatives... there is a whole book about "beyond good and evil" if you havent read it..

Answer 6

I dont know much about him..is he an existentalist? I just read a book and it refered to him quite a few times..
and in that book this quote would mean that the school girls stalker was good when he did all he did to her..it nearly justify's anything you can reason to be done for good even if it's not..the stalker tried to say that good and evil where really undefined..and that he was good for 'helping' her
"good" stuff :-)

Answer 7

Two soldiers both love there country and are fighting the good Fight~~~~But are on opposite sides
One mans good is an others evil.
it is all a matter er of perception, point of view.

Answer 8

Okay, EVERYTHING in Nietzsche's world was either 'black' or 'white' ... 'good' or 'evil' ... but he felt that LOVE (i.e., TRUE LOVE, which is unconditional) goes BEYOND the black and white, good and evil ...
Try this 'example. Say my husband would die without a kidney transplant, but there were no 'good kidneys' available ... but I knew someone who had a good kidney ... but ONLY ONE. In Nietsche's world, IF I truly loved my husband, I could 'kill' that person to make the kidney 'available' to save him and not be 'condemned' for the 'sin of murder' ...
Hope this 'explains' that statement in a way you can more easily understand ...

Answer 9

I think the meaning is pretty obvious (unusual for a philosopher). I could see people applying this to really dark scenarios such as murder-suicides!

Sorry to be so grim.

Answer 10

never heard of it