Friedrich Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil, first published in 1886, ranks among the most influential works of moral philosophy to have shaped contemporary conceptions of identity, religion, democracy, psychology, and individual freedom in our age of mass societies. A devastating and deliberately provocative critique of modernity, including science, arts, and politics, the book indicts European and especially Christian morality as hypocritical and opposed to anyone who affirms life itself. Nietzsche disputes that a universal morality can exist for all human beings, and argues that any moral system relies on value judgments grounded in individual perspective rather than inherent truth. 

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was a German philosopher whose works critique the entire philosophical tradition up to this point, and provocatively call for a reaffirmation of life that has been sacrificed for the sake of abstract knowledge. Often considered the first existentialist philosopher who proclaimed “the death of God,” his work was largely ignored during his lifetime but had an incalculable influence on modern politics, philosophy, psychology, and culture, including its many appropriations by both right-wing and left-wing movements.

Martin Buber (1878–1965) was an enormously prolific moral philosopher whose work examines Hasidism, scripture, and dialogic thinking. His best-known work is I and Thou.

Philippa Foot (1920–2010) ranks among the most influential moral philosophers in the Anglo-American tradition. She is the author of Natural Goodness, Moral Dilemmas, and other works.