BAD CONSCIENCE: debt, guilt and internalized cruelty in the Genealogy of Morals

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of bad conscience from Nietzsche's perspective, highlighting the connection between moral conscience and guilt. The philosopher argues that moral conscience is the result of the internalization of aggressive instincts, which, when repressed by social norms, enable the emergence of bad conscience. This dynamic originates from the creditor-debtor relationship in primitive societies, where failure to keep promises resulted in punishment. With the rise of Christianity, guilt became a central concept, associating human nature with original sin, thus morality is seen as obedience to ancestral customs, where cruelty, initially externalized, is redirected back and internalized.