266 Force and the Social Structure 



wars, feuds, and lynchings. It is the basis for 

 those theories of punishment, now happily obsolete 

 except in the martial law of some nations, that 

 rely upon the frequent use of the death penalty 

 and methods of terrorism to enforce obedience to 

 laws. The belief in the effectiveness of force 

 still holds back the reform of the penal system, 

 keeping it upon the old basis of revenge and 

 punishment, instead of bringing it into accord with 

 the modern ideas of reformation. The use of 

 force in corporal punishment in the educational 

 systems of many countries is due to the same 

 mistaken notion of its effectiveness, this time as an 

 intellectual discipline. 



The greatest distortion of all, however, is to be 

 found in the ethics of individual conduct. Among 

 large sections of the intellectual classes, and 

 especially among the aristocratic circles in the 

 European universities, the ethics of Christianity 

 have been replaced by the philosophy of force as a 

 practical moral code. It is only when transferred 

 to the domain of the personal life, that we realize 

 fully the blasphemous character of the philosophy 

 of force ; but after all Nietzsche has simply carried 

 out the philosophy of force to its logical conclusion 

 as a standard of individual morality. Thus he 

 says in the Antichrist: 



Ye have heard how in old times it was said, Blessed 

 are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. But 

 I say unto you, Blessed are the valiant, for they shall 

 make the earth their throne. 



