Friedrich Nietzsche - Thus Spoke Zarathustra (SEMINA PAPER)

• Translated - "A book for all and none"
• Book was composed in 4 parts, during 1883-1885
• Nietzsche choose to mimic the style of the bible in order to fundamentally oppose the morality, and views of Christianity and Judaism.
• The book follows the fictional story of Zarathustra.
• The character 'Zarathustra' is taken from the ancient prophet known in English as 'Zoroaster.'
• Nietzsche portrays a different Zarathustra, one who turns what was traditional morality on its head.
• The book also featured the infamous quote "God is dead", which had only been seen previously in 'The Gay Science.'
• Another feature in 'Zarathustra' is the claim that Humans are a part of a transitional phase between apes and the 'overman.'

Quote from 'Zarathustra':

'Man is something that shall be overcome. All beings so far have created something beyond themselves, do you want to be the ebb to that flood and go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock, a painful embarrasment. Man shall be just that to the overman.'

• Nietzsche himself see's 'Zarathustra' as his masterpiece, and claims it is the "greatest present that has ever been given to man", and that the "book bridges centuries."
• The 'eternal recurrence' found in other work by Nietzsche is also mentioned in 'Zarathustra.' The thought is that all events have happened before, and will happen again and again on a cotinuous loops. He believes the reality of this will be the one true test of the overman. An overman would be elated to know that he would only be repeating what has happened, and would live free of regrets and with a love for life.
• Another running theme of Nietzsche is the 'will to power', which is also found in 'Zarathustra.' This theory is an analysis of humans self-overcoming , self-enhancement rich lives. The will to power is the summary of mans struggle against the enviroment.
• Criticism of Christianity is also frequently found and in particular when looking at their values of what is 'good' and 'evil', as well as their beliefs in the afterlife. Nietzsche sees these complacent beliefs as the one thing holding man back from becoming the overman.

Quotes from Nietzsche:

1. 'Morality is the herd instinct of the individual.'
2. 'In Christianity, neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point'
3. 'The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently'

My thoughts:

• As an atheist myself, I can find great parallels between Nietzsche's views and my own. I find his work though provocking, and accurate. I see my own views as almost a creation of what Nietzsche started with his work.
• I admire Nietzsche for standing up for what he believes in and against the strongly held traditional morals of his time. Blasphemy in his time was dealt with a far greater consequence than today.
• I find the quotes 'God is dead' an intriguing one. The general view of atheists is that God is more a creation of man, thus never trully existed. Nietzsche almost plays devils advocate by suggesting that God may have existed, but what if he is now dead?
• Nietzsche's views on the overman are also very interesting, and are supported by tremendous logic. If we did evolve from aped, then who's to say we won't evolve again? Theres nothing to suggest that Humans are the end of the road, so to speak.
• Nietzsche's views on the 'eternal occurence' isn't one of his views I personally connect with as much as others, but it none the less raises some good points. It makes logical sense that for all the billions and billions of people that have existed, and all the events that have happened in this planets long history, that events do get repeated. The view that this is the true test of the overman to me suggests that the overman isn't some vast physical evolution of humans, more an intellectual one. I believe Nietzsche see's himself as an overman.