Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Beyond Good and Evil  By  cover art

Beyond Good and Evil

By: Friedrich Nietzsche
Narrated by: Alex Jennings,Roy McMillan
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.94

Buy for $17.94

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Continuing where Thus Spoke Zarathustra left off, Nietzsche's controversial work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most influential philosophical texts of the 19th century and one of the most controversial works of ideology ever written.

Attacking the notion of morality as nothing more than institutionalised weakness, Nietzsche criticises past philosophers for their unquestioning acceptance of moral precepts. Nietzsche tried to formulate what he called "the philosophy of the future".

Alex Jennings reads this new translation by Ian Johnston.

©2008 Naxos Audiobooks (P)2008 Naxos Audiobooks

Featured Article: All the Audiobooks in "The White Lotus"—and What Listeners Really Thought


For most, a "beach read" tends to be easy to digest. On HBO’s new hit series The White Lotus, however, that standard is questioned. Throughout the show, characters consume challenging texts from Nietzsche to Malcolm Gladwell while lounging at the luxury resort. If you are looking for an opportunity to up your game for your next beach visit, look no further than this list of books we spotted in the show—in audio, of course, to help them go down easier.

What listeners say about Beyond Good and Evil

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    999
  • 4 Stars
    331
  • 3 Stars
    207
  • 2 Stars
    73
  • 1 Stars
    43
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    967
  • 4 Stars
    252
  • 3 Stars
    110
  • 2 Stars
    31
  • 1 Stars
    21
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    782
  • 4 Stars
    268
  • 3 Stars
    195
  • 2 Stars
    74
  • 1 Stars
    40

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book, great Audio Narration

I won't drone on about the wealth of knowledge in this book. I will say i've listened to it twice since i got it two weeks ago, and i will keep listening to it. I find it very practical.
-
The narration and production of this book is exceptional. Like any book, it's difficult to read to others, and communicate the nuance. Jennings & McMillan bring this production through with excellence. Even Jennings tone, a slight snear, really plays well, because Nietzsche himself writes with a slight snear.
Contrast this production with one i downloaded from "Librovox". Librovox allows non-professionals to record a book, and upload it. I downloaed Nietzsche's "The Gay Science", and i couldn't get through the first chapters. The narrator couldn't communicate the spirit and intent of the book. This production achieves that.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

67 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Troubled Genius

Nietzsche's analysis and critique of false authority, master-slave relationships, herd morality, rationalistic/scientific barriers to living fearlessly are amazing critiques for the time he wrote, and flew in the face of the rationalistic zeitgeist of Kant, Hegel and science.

His critique is very psychological, in that he does not himself present a rationalistic argument for or against his views (although he reveals brilliant thinking), but rather a series of observations/aphorisms which we automatically string together as his "philosophy" (and then wonder what he said). He makes scathing observations of the Jews being the cause of the despised master-slave relationships, and compounded by Christians. For sure, he despises weakness.

Because of his own questioning of human motivation leading to the destructive master-slave devaluation of human, I find myself analyzing his own motivation for his concerns. While his interpretation of women parallels hatred of weakness everywhere, his misogyny, mistrust and devaluation seems embedded in every pore of his being, and explains most of his philosophy as a rant against how his mother (including father) treated him. He describes women as like a cat, they do their own thing, they have claws waiting to strike and are fundamentally manipulative and shallow.

If my impression of Nietzsche's devaluation of human relationships (esp. with women) is accurate (his self/other esteem is relationally absent), then he is blind and in contempt (indignant) of any relational resolution to his existential predicament. His primary target therefore is anyone who presents a threat to him, his thinking, his power/right to live fully.

More interestingly, this theory helps explain the either/or, master/slave position which he takes as the truth of the human condition. Since psyche (which is conditioned by society he states)/people/society/ bad philosophers/scientists/politics/countries are not to be trusted, the first goal is to avoid being a slave of your own weak conscience or that of anyone else's, have the courage to be master of your own soul, and do not be afraid of your passions/instincts/impulses, but let them give you instinctive taste/guidance, power, freedom of will, nobility--not made weak by conscience.

His use of the term "Truth" is almost always stated in some disdainful way against others, especially philosopher metaphysicians who go around telling others what "Truth" is. His effort is to invert this terrible misconception, and restore the meaning of truth as ones own Will to Truth (which becomes Will to Power), the power to be who you are based on your own value. The ultimate truth in life is thus to embrace the value of your own power. He often speaks positively of artists who engage in their expressive, empowered freedom in life (i.e., Wagner).


He states that "all organic functions [including sexuality] could be traced back to this Will to Power" (36)--this is his claim about reality/truth. There are thus two reading of Nietzsche--the amoral, harsh, cynical, heartlessness, and the one that some of us would like to believe: that his thoughts just haven't been developed clearly and that he is more artistic in his nature (and that Santa Claus and Heaven are not in jeopardy). It is not hard to see why his ideas became usable for Hitler's regime. We can thank subsequent philosophers who salvaged his genius out of his darkness.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

49 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

This was not what I expected...

I'm not sure what I expected from Nietzsche, but it most certainly wasn't a constantly contradictory, self-pitying diatribe about how all of the problems in the world are everyone elses fault and how Nietzsche, himself, is some sort of advance guard for a super-awesome totally kick-ass mega race of philosopher kings who need to be put in charge of everything because they are our superiors and we are just herd animals waiting to be led by them!

Nietzsche take perfectly logical presumptions- like "there is no singular morality"- and twists them into value judgments- like "there is no singular morality, therefore some morality must be superior morality and some inferior morality, and the inferior people who have inferior morality must subjugate themselves to the superior". WTF?!

In the end, Nietzsche falls prey to the brier patch of the small minded- the absolute. If a man is not one way, he must then be the absolute opposite, if a man does not completely believe one thing, he must completely believe the absolute opposite, if a man is not a master, then he must be a slave. And all the while condemning this very act in others.

Over and over again, Nietzsche takes reasonable, and sometimes very wise, ideas and twists them to fuel his own self-gratification and sense of superiority.

It is important to read Nietzsche to understand the kind of childlike thinking that we must avoid in ourselves. Of course, if Nietzsche wrote this as a satire and is laughing at us from the grave (like Machiavelli), then I take all of this back. If that is the case the man has done us the great favor of giving us a glimpse into our own, darkest nature.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

hold the commentary.

the flow of the book is constantly interrupted by editorializing. please, Mr. Jennings and mcillan Do Not think you are a better writer than Nietzsche, or smarter than the listener.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awsome

Great read, great narrator, interesting, thought provoking, and surprisingly funny at times. If you have never read any Nietzsche this is a good one to start with.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

important classic with Ian Johnston's notes

"Beyond Good and Evil" is a well-known classic, so I will not review the work itself.

The narration by Alex Jennings was excellent. He kept my attention throughout with his lively speech.

And, Ian Johnston was more than a translator. He also wrote commentary which is included in this audio. The commentary is excellent: accurate and helpful for understanding Nietzsche's background and ideas.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Great Read, Inconsistent Material

The narration was by far the best part! To be sure, Nietzsche is dynamic and insightful writer, it's just overall imbalance in chapter quality. Like he'd have a deep understanding of social pressures and corrupted morality followed with how "inadequate" women are. Or how logical positivism cancels itself followed by a vague chapter on the German spirit. The aphorisms section was by far the most tedious.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

hmm

Nietzsche doesn't write stories. He destroys your ideals with amazing yet simple realizations. His language is somewhat hard to understand at times.

This is not a book for those with little ability to concentrate. His ideas move so quickly that you will disintegrate when you finally catch onto his full meaning; a pleasure I myself have not yet reached.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

complicated but fun

A good amount of this went over my head, no gonna lie. But I got the great courses explanation of his philosophy so I'm going to go read that too. Nietzsche is the sassiest philosopher hands down. That's what I learned here.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

mental.

Reading as part of a larger project on psychology,. I was far more impressed with Jung. although he nailed it on Germany and the Jews.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful