Is there such a thing as right and wrong, or is morality a fabrication of social and evolutionary design? Enlightenment thinkers, such as Hobbes and Rousseau, believed that morality is a social construct. Contemporary atheist philosophers, like Paul Kurtz and Michael Ruse, are convinced that evolutionary biology is responsible for a sense of morality. Judeo-Christian thinkers throughout millennia have said that moral laws require a moral law giver. And Friedrich Nietzsche dismisses the entire conversation, arguing that all morals are illusory constraints adopted by weak willed peons.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is one of the most radical, untamed and influential philosophers of all time. Often categorized as an Existentialist, Nietzsche is remembered for his blistering and unapologetic denouncement of religion, especially Christianity. Nietzsche declared that “God is dead” and spent a large portion of his intellectual efforts demolishing the remnants of Christianity’s influence, including the moral framework established by two thousand years of cultural dominance. Genealogy of Morals is one of his last works, and seeks to expose the sinister roots of Christian ethics, explore the true rise of morality among humans, and predict the inevitable collapse of society into nihilism until a “Superman” will lead humanity to greater heights.