"Nothing is beautiful, only man: on this piece of naivete rests all aesthetics, it is the first truth of aesthetics. Let us immediately add its second: nothing is ugly but degenerate man - the domain of aesthetic judgment is therewith defined"

Aesthetics, for Nietzsche, does not reside in objects or landscapes but within humanity itself. Beauty is a projection of human feeling, desire, and interpretation; no mountain, flower, or animal possesses beauty inherently except insofar as it is mirrored or valued through human consciousness. Nietzsche’s assertion that “nothing is beautiful, only man” rejects the idea of intrinsic beauty in the world and instead anchors all aesthetics in the human experience, the “naivete” he references is the fundamental, almost childlike, assumption that beauty can exist outside the human capacity to perceive and judge it.

Following this, Nietzsche states that “nothing is ugly but degenerate man,” introducing an equally human-centered standard for ugliness. Ugliness, like beauty, is measured not in things but in the state of humanity. The term “degenerate” suggests a departure from strength, creativity, and vitality, qualities Nietzsche admired. The ugly is, therefore, not a matter of superficial appearance but a sign of decline or corruption in human spirit or power. Beauty corresponds to the flourishing of humanity, its health, vigor, and capacity for creation, whereas ugliness aligns with its decay.

With these two principles, Nietzsche tightly circumscribes the domain of aesthetic judgment: it is anthropocentric, concerned less with things-in-themselves and more with the states and values of human beings. Aesthetics becomes a doctrine of value that measures the world by the health and vitality of humankind, rather than a matter of abstract properties. Judging beauty and ugliness, then, is always a judgment about what enhances or detracts from human greatness. By rooting aesthetics in man, not in things, Nietzsche foregrounds the creative and interpretive power of humanity while exposing the limitations of traditional, object-centered theories of beauty.