"All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses"

Friedrich Nietzsche’s assertion that “All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses” speaks directly to the philosopher’s challenge of metaphysical and abstract ideals. Nietzsche locates the foundation of knowledge firmly within the realm of sensory perception. By saying that credibility, good conscience, and evidence of truth arise solely from the senses, he rejects the traditional philosophical notion that objective truths or moral certainties are accessible through reason alone or through appeal to some supersensible reality, such as Plato’s forms or Christian absolutes.

Nietzsche’s emphasis on the senses redirects attention to empirical reality, to lived experience, as the only reliable source for evaluating claims about truth. For him, there is an inherent skepticism about systems of thought built primarily on logic divorced from observable or felt reality, systems that often suppress or dismiss the senses as illusory or untrustworthy. Instead, he maintains, trustworthiness ("credibility") arises when beliefs correspond to what can be perceived and experienced by the individual. Similarly, “good conscience”, the sense of acting rightly or being in accordance with truth, is grounded in immediate, sensory interaction with the world and other people, not in adherence to abstract rules.

Evidence of truth, too, for Nietzsche, is fundamentally empirical. One cannot know something to be true without some direct encounter or interaction, whether through sight, sound, taste, touch, or smell. The body, in his view, becomes a site of knowing, and truth is not a transcendental absolute but a lived, bodily experience. There is a democratic, even egalitarian, element to this proclamation: anyone equipped with senses can access truth, not merely those with specialized knowledge of theological or philosophical systems.

In sum, Nietzsche’s statement challenges readers to value and trust their sensory experience, suggesting that the highest standards of authenticity, morality, and knowledge are rooted not in rationalist speculation or mystical intuition but in the tangible immediacy of perceivable reality.