Why Did Nietzsche Hate Jesuits?

In paragraph 206 of Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche discusses “Jesuitism.” He does not like it. What was Nietzsche talking about? Nietzsche always has a point, even in his most bizarre aphorisms – to wit, #132: “One is punished most for his virtues.” If we recall what Christ said about who would be most persecuted, this paradoxical aphorism seems right on target. Truth and virtue are, in fact, “punished.”

In Nietzsche’s Preface, democracy and “Jesuitism” were viewed with some contempt. Christianity was the “Platonism of the masses.” It tried to give everyone the nobility that Plato reserved to the few. This combination only produced a “tension” in the souls of European men. This inner tension should lead to a revolution to rid us of the silly effort to make “herd-men” (democratic citizens) noble.

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