The aphorisms towards the end of Human all too Human critically examine good and evil, how that translates to the emergent ethic and finally to its implications for justice / virtuous living. Nietzsche states that “bad acts” are guiltless in that their inspiration is born of the desire for pleasure and avoidance of pain. This on face value should not disturb us. Our angst with bad acts comes from the attachment to the concept of free will in the matter. We take bad acts personally out of the erroneous assumption the individual could have decided otherwise but chose from their options to be malevolent. This makes the “bad acts” “evil acts”. This attachment to the discretionary leads to hate and the desire for revenge. Continuing with the concept of revenge, Nietzsche reminds us of the subjugation, if not origin, of the ethic to the ancient law. Revenge offends the modern ethic but to the ancient Greeks it was part of good morals. This is not ethical relativism Nietzsche points out but rather emergent from utilitarianism. Good is what serves the group whereas bad is injurious to the collective.
The origin of justice to Nietzsche is a grand compromise. Two parties, neither obtaining supremacy over the other, In desire to avoid mutual loss come to the compromise of justice. At its core what man falsely idolizes in justice is merely the mutual surrender of ones desires to reduce the chance of calamity. We have robbed justice of its original motive, “rational acts” in favor of a venerated construct.
Nietzsche’s goal is to show us the impermanence of our current perception of humanity. Specifically in regards to how we judge each other. Whether it is taking our lofty ideals back to an origin nested in the slave/master dichotomy or showing us the tendency to overthink our perceived aggressors. What we hold as lofty pillars of our humanity are merely human.