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Thus Spoke Zarathustra

A Book for All and None

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Thus Spoke Zarathustra

By: Friedrich Nietzsche
Narrated by: Christopher Oxford
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About this listen

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one of the most extraordinary - and important - texts in Western philosophy. It was written by Friedrich Nietzsche between 1883 and 1885. He cast it in the form of a novel in the hope that his urgent message of the 'death of God' and the rise of the superman (Ubermensch) would have greater emotional as well as intellectual impact.

Though tarnished somewhat by inappropriate adoption by the Nazi movement in the mid-20th century, Zarathustra remains an immensely important and influential work, particularly as it exhorts the individual to question standard conventions of society in order to pursue a truly ethical and spiritual path.

After 10 years in solitude in the mountains, Zarathustra decides it is time to return to the world so that people can benefit from the fruits of his pondering: 'I would like to bestow and distribute, until the wise have once more become joyous in their folly, and the poor happy in their riches.'

Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a challenging text, but once encountered and absorbed, it cannot be forgotten for both its content and style.

Translation: Thomas Common - revised and updated.

Public Domain (P)2015 Ukemi Productions Ltd Philosophy
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Neitzche advises rejecting the creation and gives us a superman who is more like Zod. Powerful...yes, but all destruction without creation. Anyone can destroy. It is an act of desperation, not contemplation. Arrogant and difficult to learn from. The best thing that can be said is that he advises us to reject superstition and to question authority. It’s quite sad to hear his yearning for eternity in a world where he values nothing except power. Even the Eagle that he thinly claims to love is a barren symbol in that it’s nobility is not expanded upon except for its remoteness from the world and its freedom from company.
Despite his low regard for us shopkeepers and householders he nevertheless tries to sell a product...but unfortunately it’s a selfish one, like a gold backscratcher. Does he like Mozart? With his intellect he may have unearthed and fashioned a superman like that but instead decided to be so esoteric and spiteful that he didn’t create one superman beyond himself, and, like Wilde’s Remarkable Rocket, his genius blazed friendless in a field, in a day that was like a starless night.

A lot of the spider and not enough of the bee

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Not nearly as good as "Beyond Good and Evil", but an important work nonetheless. Largely consists of saying the same thing over and over. He needed an editor.

Largely self aggrandisement

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There will always be crusaders wielding contemptuous sarcasm and cynicism to destroy established ideas. As Nietzsche was an intellectual juggernaut and influential historical contributor to this sort of thinking, his attacks are worth becoming familiar with.

Unfortunately, I did not find this book as accessible as 'Beyond Good and Evil'. The style is too poetic and ambiguous. When it seems like he's finally winding up to a point, he says 'Thus spoke Zarathustra' and I'm left shrugging. I would be surprised if anyone could understand all the content without listening to it twice and constantly replaying segments, and I am unwilling to do either.

It could be helpful to supplement with clearly articulated interpretations by modern philosophers rather than relying solely on this source material.

A bit of conceptual destruction and recreation is healthy to avoid stagnation, but Nietzsche is almost all destruction; he doesn't offer much besides 'power' to fill the vacuum left behind in his wake. For example, the arguments around power as the great virtue are creepily reminiscent of Lavayan Satanism or the power = truth dystopias described by Orwell.

19th Century Trolling

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This book would make sense to idiots and knuckle heads fools low iWatch humans . One

Gibberish

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