Structure of the work

The work consists of 296 numbered sections and an "epode" (or "aftersong") entitled "From High Mountains". The sections are organized into nine parts:
  • Part One: On the Prejudices of Philosophers
  • Part Two: The Free Spirit
  • Part Three: The Religious Essence
  • Part Four: Maxims and Interludes
  • Part Five: On the Natural History of Morals
  • Part Six: We Scholars
  • Part Seven: Our Virtues
  • Part Eight: Peoples and Fatherlands
  • Part Nine: What is Noble?