How did Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of a reevaluation of all values challenge traditional morality?

Friedrich Nietzsche’s call for a "reevaluation of all values" challenged traditional morality by rejecting the absolute, universal claims of the Judeo-Christian tradition and Western philosophy, which he characterized as expressions of an "ascetic ideal".12

Nietzsche argued that traditional morality—specifically what he termed "slave morality"—was a symptom of decline that denigrated human strength, pride, and self-affirmation in favor of virtues like meekness and humility. By declaring that "God is dead," he signaled the collapse of the theological and metaphysical foundations that had historically justified these values.132

In place of these inherited standards, Nietzsche proposed that superior individuals, or the Übermensch, should rise above ordinary moral constraints to become "value-determining". This shift moved the source of morality from external, divine, or objective authority to the individual, who creates their own values through the "will to power"—a concept Nietzsche associated with self-affirmation rather than the oppression of others. Ultimately, his challenge sought to replace a morality of "herd" conformity with one of individual authenticity and creative strength.132