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I am not a student of philosophy and this is my first book to read by the author. Naturally, I didnt find the book an easy read, but I can't blame the author since Im on unfamiliar territory. However, I really enjoyed reading the book and its amazing how many phrases are worth memorizing. The book is very original and very intelligent. From what I read Nietzsche is against organised religion, so I thought it was quite strange that he chose a Prophet to deliver this thoughts to us.
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I hate long reviews... All I'm gonna say is, you need to have an open mind for this book to really embrace the meaning of his words.... Life changing book... I love Nietzsce, but I specially love this TSZ...
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"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."-Nietzsche
Nietzsche, the man who predicted the war and chaos that resulted from Europe's enthusiastic unchecked embrace of nihilism, is presenting the basics of his philosophy through Zarathustra.
This mock-gospel, philosophical work is Nietzsche's criticism of mass movements or dogmas in general, and in particular he mocks the concept of a holy scripture through the story of Zarathustra. After ten years of solitude, Zarathustra, like a modern day Moses, descends from the mountain with the hope of teaching the people love and wisdom and helping them become ubermensch. . To become an ubermensch, one has to be free from all human prejudices, group moralities and create his/her own values and purpose.
Zarathustra's teachings include the ubermensch or the enlightenment stage, the concept of will to power, the fear of the pointless eternal recurrence, and the understanding that mass movements are for the weak who can't think for themselves and as a result they take the easy escape route to religion, nationalism, democracy or some other movement.
By the end of the day, Zarathustra is saddened by his inability to move this "herd" of people and decides to focus on those who choose to separate themselves from the "herd".
Zarathustra ends up teaching his philosophy to people who choose to follow him and work toward achieving the ubermensch/overman stage. In "Beyond good and evil", Nietzsche covers the same ideas in more depth and completes this philosophical theory.
Understandably, in a time when Christianity lost people's faith to Nihilism and science, Nietzsche like others, saw an urgency to restore faith and values, but unlike any other he tried to create a new set of faith and values.
For the longest time Nietzsche was accused of being an atheist, but when the believers are acting contrary to the morals of their religions, only the courageous, such as Nietzsche, dare to question and seek the truth. Doubt is the road to faith just as uncertainty is the motive to search for truth. Nietzsche, the man who said: "In truth, there was only one Christian, and he died on the cross", wouldn't dismiss religion itself, only the practice of its adherents.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which was written during a time of physical and emotional deterioration in Nietzsche's life, is as chaotic and unpredictable as his health. At a time, when humanity needed a moral code, Nietzsche's ideas were a bright beacon of hope that no one believed or understood, "Thus spoke Zarathustra." is indeed "A book for none and all".
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Many will link Nietzsche to the idea of nihilism, that once god, morality and all values have been emptied out and thrown out of their pedestals, there's very left to hold on to, and life itself becomes meaningless. Well for Nietzsche, the glass is half-full, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a guide on the way to overcome, on how to absolve the self from imposed value systems, seing their limitations and the reasoning behind their existances. What Nietzche preaches trought his precepts is for a continuous redefinition of values, eventually to see them as arbitrary, normative patterns.
Nietzche sees this transvaluation as the way to free oneself from ALL power structures, Zarathustra himself teaches in the hope that his students eventually overcome the definitions he gives them. Thus Spoke Zarathustra mixes philosophical enquiries within the narrative of a prophetic journey, but Zarathustra's prophecy is the end of all prophets. The overman breaks away from all forms of divine order and social structuralism, but also from his own definition.
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I am not educated in philosophy, so I read this book slowly with the help of Sparknotes and ended up really enjoying the book, not only for its philosophy (not all of which I found agreeable, however, tremendously interesting) but also for its creativity, humor and its literary energy and complexity. It is always a treat to read writings of such a brilliant thinker of our time.
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