# Europeans — Beyond Good and Evil character guide > Europeans in Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche. **Role:** minor **Also known as:** Europeans, European, the European **First appearance:** 0002-i-prejudices-of-philosophers ## Who they are The modern European type, discussed as a cultural and psychological phenomenon. ## In the story ### [10](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/10) Collectively referenced as the milieu where the subtle and crafty dealing with the problem of 'the real and the apparent world' is taking place. ### [Chapter 11](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/11) Portrayed as recipients of German philosophy's influence, with noble idlers, mystics, and obscurantists finding in it an antidote to sensualism. ### [Chapter 22](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/22) Implied as the modern souls with democratic instincts to whom the physicists' interpretation makes concessions. ### [II: The Free Spirit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/ii-the-free-spirit) Referenced as the context where the term 'free spirit' is currently abused by a narrow, prepossessed class of 'levellers' who champion democratic taste and modern ideas. ### [Chapter 32](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/32) Implied as the audience and subjects of the modern 'suspicion' and 'new self-consciousness' that challenges intention-morality. ### [Chapter 38](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/38) Described as the 'noble and visionary spectators' who, from a distance, projected their own indignation and enthusiasm onto the Revolution, obscuring its reality. ### [Chapter 44](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/44) Mentioned as the location where the term 'free spirit' is currently abused by a class of democratic levelers. ### [Faith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/46) Referenced via the 'French Revolution' as the culmination of the slave insurrection driven by a hatred of noble skepticism toward suffering. ### [The Old Testament and the Scale of Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/52) Criticized for their audacity in binding the Old and New Testaments together, committing a 'sin against the Spirit,' and for being 'slender, tame house-animals' compared to the old Asiatic spirit. ### [53](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/53) Collectively represent the subject of the analysis, whose religious instinct is growing yet rejecting traditional theistic concepts. ### [Chapter 58](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/58) Implied through the critique of modern, time-engrossing laboriousness as a European phenomenon preparing for widespread 'unbelief'. ### [The Tyranny of Morals and the Discipline of Freedom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/188) The European spirit is the primary subject, having been shaped and strengthened through centuries of severe intellectual and moral discipline. ### [189](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/189) Referenced as the collective subject experiencing the most Christian period where the sublimation of impulse into love occurred. ### [The Herd Instinct and the Need for Command](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/199) Described as possessing a herd-instinct of obedience; the commanding class suffers moral hypocrisy, while the gregarious man glorifies gentle, herd-useful virtues. ### [The Gregarious Morality of Fear](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/201) Their collective conscience is diagnosed as being governed by the 'imperative of the timidity of the herd,' seeking a future with nothing to fear, which they call 'progress.' ### [Chapter 202](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/202) The primary subject of the critique, embodying the 'herd-animal morality' and its democratic, socialist, and anarchist expressions. ### [The Philosopher of the Future and the Danger of Degeneration](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/203) Implicitly referenced as the bearers of 'Christo-European morality,' which is part of the dangerous ideological landscape obscuring humanity's fate. ### [VI: We Scholars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/vi-we-scholars) Collectively diagnosed with skepticism and paralysis of will, with national variations in strength of will analyzed. ### [The Geography of Will and the Skeptic's Sedative](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/208) Portrayed as suffering from a skeptical, will-paralyzing sickness due to racial and class blending. ### [The New Warlike Age and German Skepticism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/209) Described as entering a new warlike age; were formerly under the dominion of the German spirit and its critical skepticism, and held an outdated, weak conception of German character. ### [VII: Our Virtues](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/vii-our-virtues) Addressed as the entity being warned about the 'disenchantment' and 'tediousness' of woman, and the danger of modern ideas. ### [Our Virtues?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/214) Addressed as 'we Europeans of the day after tomorrow,' characterized by dangerous curiosity, multifariousness, art of disguising, and mellow cruelty. ### [The Motley Morality of Modern Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/215) Implied as the 'modern men' subject to this complicated, multi-sourced moral determination. ### [Chapter 222](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/222) Described as undergoing a century-long process of 'overshadowing and uglifying,' with modern sympathy as a key symptom. ### [The Hybrid European and the Carnival of Costumes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/223) Described as hybrid, ugly plebeians who desperately try on and discard historical costumes (styles, morals, beliefs) in a futile search for identity. ### [The Historical Sense](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/224) Claim the historical sense as their specialty, described as modern souls and semi-barbarians due to democratic mingling. ### [Beyond Pleasure and Pain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/225) Context for the modern philosophical trends (hedonism, utilitarianism) that are being critiqued as naive. ### [227](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/227) Implied as part of the 'aging civilization' with a 'dull gloomy seriousness' that the narrator's honest glance may overspread. ### [239](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/239) Addressed directly in the final paragraph as being seduced by a dangerous 'idea' (modern emancipation) that leads to stupidity and disenchantment. ### [Chapter 241](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/241) Referenced as 'good Europeans' who overcome atavistic patriotism. The narrator speculates on different European races' speeds of digesting nationalistic sentiments to return to reason and Europeanism. ### [242](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/242) The collective subject undergoing a vast physiological process of assimilation and detachment from hereditary conditions, evolving towards a supernational, nomadic, and highly adaptable species. ### [Chapter 243](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/243) Specifically 'good Europeans' are called upon to lead the way in this progressive movement. ### [What Europe Owes to the Jews](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/250) The recipients of this Jewish moral legacy; their culture's 'evening sky' glows with the alluring and exquisite elements derived from it. ### [Chapter 253](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/253) The middle-class region of European taste is depicted as succumbing to the influence of mediocre English ideas, leading to a general depression of intelligence. ### [IX: What Is Noble?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/ix-what-is-noble) Their ordinary consciousness is criticized for being unwilling to accept that exploitation is a primary organic function of life and will to power. They 'rave' about future societies without exploitation. ### [259](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/259) Their ordinary consciousness is critiqued as unwilling to accept that exploitation is a fundamental organic function and consequence of the Will to Power. ### [Master-Morality and Slave-Morality](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/260) Credited with the invention of love as a passion, a specialty of noble origin attributed to the Provençal poet-cavaliers. ### [The Instinct for Rank and the Test of Reverence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/263) Present as the collective subject whose manners have been shaped by the Christian discipline of reverence. ### [267](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/267) Explicitly named as the subjects of the critique for their 'self-dwarfing' nature. ### [On the Value of Sympathy and the Master's Nature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/chapters/293) Described as exhibiting a 'sickly irritability and sensitiveness towards pain' and a 'cult of suffering.' ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/characters/europeans - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/beyond_good_and_evil_se/characters