3/ It Is Not Looking for the Origin of Morality

a/ Where Does the Confusion Between Origin and Foundation Come From?

To investigate the origin of morality is to explore the origins of our moral concepts: the context in which they were formed, who created them, the sentiment behind their creation, the society that developed them, and the interests that shaped their conception. The primary approaches for studying morality will therefore encompass three fields: history (to understand a concept’s origins, we must examine the past), sociology (to understand a concept’s context, we need insight into the society where it was discovered or constructed), and finally psychology (to study the human mind that develops these concepts)—or physiology, if we view mental functions as expressions of the body’s physiological processes.

History, sociology, psychology, or physiology—these are the disciplines that will contribute to such a study. The significance of this study is clear, and the discoveries made have been substantial. The simple question is: do these discoveries help us with our problem? In other words, can uncovering the origin of morality assist us in any meaningful way in our quest to establish its foundation?

Unfortunately, the answer appears to be no (which is regrettable, as it means foregoing a valuable aid in our research). But why not? We can explore this further by examining Nietzsche's attempt to derive the foundation of morality from its origin.

b/ The Example of Nietzschean Genealogy

Nietzsche seeks to uncover the origin of our moral judgements. Why do we make such judgements? His approach involves tracing the visible phenomenon back to its hidden and unsuspected cause. Nietzsche, for his part, adopts a 'suspicious' stance: My writings have been called a School for Suspicion, even more for Contempt, fortunately also for Courage and, in fact, for Daring. Truly, I myself do not believe that anyone has ever looked into the world with such deep suspicion ¹. This type of investigation, which aims to uncover the hidden origins of phenomena, is called 'genealogical'—just as a family genealogy seeks to trace ancestors, the concealed causes behind my existence.

It is important to note that Nietzsche identifies multiple origins for moral judgments.

First, there is a physiological origin: In point of fact, all tables of values, all the "thou shalts" known to history and ethnology, need primarily a physiological, at any rate in preference to a psychological, elucidation and interpretation: all equally require a critique from medical science ².

'Give me a particular body, and I will give you a particular morality', Nietzsche suggests. The 'sublime runt', due to the weakness of his body and will, will support a morality that elevates peace, humility, and forgiveness as supreme values. The 'blond beast', by contrast, will advocate for a 'morality' that prizes nobility, courage, and strength: Behind the highest value judgments that have hitherto guided the history of thought are concealed misunderstandings of the physical constitution – of individuals, or classes or even whole races. All those bold lunacies of metaphysics, especially answers to the question about the value of existence, may always be considered first of all as symptoms of certain bodies; and if such world affirmations or world negations lack altogether any grain of significance when measured scientifically, they give the historian and psychologist all the more valuable hints as symptoms of the body, of its success or failure, its fullness, power […] ³.

1. Human, All Too Human, Preface, 1
2. Beyond Good and Evil, treatise I, 17
3. The Gay Science, chap. 5, 2