In this second of three sessions in our seminar, we will be focusing upon Essay/Treatise 2 of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals.

I will be presenting the key ideas and development from this section of the work during the session. These include:

• The development of responsibility and conscience
• The contractual relation of creditor and debtor
• The multiple purposes and functions of punishment
• The rise of the community and the state
• Ressentiment, justice, and revenge
• Internalization of instincts
• Religion arising in relation to ancestors
• Christianity and the maximum God
• The contemporary situation of nihilism

You do not have to have read the text(s) previously, though of course, that may be helpful for understanding some of the key ideas that are worked out in them.

We will have plenty of time for Q&A and discussion during this session. You should feel free to ask questions at any point during the seminar, and you can use your microphone or the chat to do so.