On Competing Systems of Morality

 Day 2 of the Feast of the End of the 80-Year Battle Between Sutekh and Horus

I would like to share a poem by Armenian poet Avetik Isahakyan from 1905.

Avetik Isahakyan

Եղբայրության կամ թե սիրո

Եղբայրության կամ թե սիրո

Խոսքը ես ձեզ չեմ ավետում, –

Պատգամները չարի, բարվո

Ձեր ոտների տակն եմ նետում:

Կյանքն է պայքա՛ր՝ գոռ ու դաժա՛ն,

Ճզմի՛ր մարդուն և թռի՛ր վե՛ր.

Իրավունքը ուժն է միայն,

Վա՛յ հաղթվածին, հազա՛ր վայեր:

Տեր կամ ըստրուկ պիտի լինիս, – 

Ճշմարտություն չկա ուրիշ: 

Չես սպանի, քեզ կսպանեն,

Դու սպանի՛ր, քեզ չսպանեն:

Լուծ կամ լծկան պիտի լինիս,

Ճշմարտություն չկա ուրիշ:

Անիծվիս, մա՛րդ, որ հույսդ է մարդ.

Բախտըդ կռվով կռի՛ր ինքդ:

Սուրճ կամ զնդան պիտի լինիս. – 

Ճշմարտություն չկա ուրիշ:

Խոսք՝ Ավետիք ԻՍԱՀԱԿՅԱՆ

English:

I do not proclaim the word 

of brotherhood or love to you.

Instead I throw messages 

of good and evil at your feet.

Life is a struggle, loud and cruel,

Crush a man and jump on him.

Only strength is morally right.

Woe to the defeated, a thousand woes.

You’re either a master or a slave.

There is no other truth.

If you don’t kill, you will be killed.

If you kill, you will not be killed.

You are either free or in bondage.

There is no other truth.

You are cursed, humans, by your hope.

You continue to delude yourself.

You will either be a slave or a prisoner,

There is no other truth.

The sentiment in this poem is an understandable reaction to centuries of on and off genocide and colonization undergone by Armenians. It was written ten years before the worst phase of that genocide, at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. In Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil”, he introduces the concept of two basic moral systems that have been at odds since the beginning of human history, calling them “Master Morality” and “Slave Morality”. Keep in mind he was writing in the 1800s; I probably wouldn’t have called them that myself because it makes it sound like one is good and the other is bad, and it’s not that simple. These competing moralities both have strengths and weaknesses, and having too much of one or the other is a bad thing, in my opinion. Nietzsche writes that Master Morality was the dominant moral system of the ancient world, or at least of ancient Greece; how much he knew about the moral systems in ancient Egypt, the Western Hemisphere before European colonization or remote regions of Africa and Australia, I don’t know. Nietzsche provides the example of the Trojan war, and how it differed from modern conflicts; neither side in the war demonized the other, in fact they had begrudging respect for one another, even for heroes on both sides of the battle. No one was calling for a genocide against the other, neither side called the other “evil”. Master Morality’s starting point is defining what is good, and anything that isn’t good is labeled “bad”. Bad is different from “evil”; it is undesirable, but a person who does bad things is not irredeemable. Things that were “bad” mainly were things that undermined society in some way. Strength, bravery, nobility, chivalry, these are seen as positive qualities. Abuse of power, killing (without good cause; wars and death penalties still existed), stealing, cowardice, these things were considered bad. Slave Morality, Nietzsche says, was a reaction to Master Morality, and came from those who were victimized by those in power that followed Master Morality. Its starting point was from a place of resentment, and that is the whole problem with it; rather than try to transcend Master Morality it embodied everything that Master Morality was not. The first thing they did was define “evil”, and anything that wasn’t evil was labeled “good”. Once something was labeled “evil” it could be dismissed, or punished. Once something is “evil” you don’t have to come up with an argument against it, it’s evil because “God says so”, and this “God” is always in agreement with whoever invokes them. Positive qualities in their moral systems include obedience, peacefulness, pacifism, equality, empathy, conformity. Its adherents fear negative emotions and chaos. The Slave Morality overtook the Master Morality when Rome made Christianity its official religion. They did this because, while to this very day world leaders follow Master Morality, people who exclusively follow Slave Morality are easier to control and dominate. They “turn the other cheek” instead of fight back, they fear power and strength, if they protest they do so peacefully and nonviolently, and they often wear their victimhood like a badge of honor. You see the latter when people try to position themselevs as victims, or play the “trauma Olympics”, and use it as an excuse to whatever they like. But I wouldn’t say the Slave Morality originated with Abrahamic religion, it merely popularized it. We start to see shades of it in ancient Egypt, with the popularization of Osiris and the demonization of Sutekh. That’s how it ties in to Sutekh. In Osiris’ afterlife, you face judgment, and you can either gain passage into Osiris’ paradise to serve Him forever, or your heart becomes a meal for Ammit the Devourer and you cease to exist. In Sutekh’s afterlife, you climb a ladder to the stars and become a God youself. Sutekh wants you to strive for excellence and reach your true potential, not bow your head in servitude. 

Despite this, I’m not here to say one is right and the other is wrong. Almost no one follows one moral system exclusively, and that actually is for the best in some ways. Nietzsche died before he could criticize the Master Morality in a book (and this is the cause of a lot of misinterpretations of his work), but he did not advocate for a return to the Master Motality. Someone who only followed Master Morality would become a tyrannical self-centered psychopath, while someone who only followed Slave Morality would become a stagnant, cowardly doormat. I personally value empathy towards the downtrodden and equality as much as it is possible. On the political spectrum you’d find me on the bottom left corner, I am anti-authoritarian and socially a leftist. I do not like hierarchy in general. So I think I already mix both. Most people have shades of both moralities, and it is the source of a lot of hypocrisy in our society. This is why there are so-called Christians that blindly worship the US president no matter how many times he violates the morality of the Bible. In fact Nietzsche mentions that the ones who have the most conflict between the two clashing moral systems often become priests. 

I do not desire to be anyone’s master or slave. I desire personal freedom. So I am building my own moral system, combining ancient Egyptian philosophy and the best of both Master and Slave morality. If the choice is mine, I no longer plan to have my heart weighed on the scales in the afterlife, I will instead ascend Sutekh’s ladder to the stars in order to “kheper”, to ascend to my highest potential. 

May Set rise and A𓌜p𓌜e𓌜p𓌜 fall.  𓇼𓀢𓏛𓃪

𓋹֍֎𓋹

~ Siamanto the Foreigner

 𓋷𓅁𓈖𓏏𓍯𓀭𓈖𓐎𓏺𓈉𓏏𓅂𓌙𓀀 

Սիամանթօ Օտարը