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Nietzsche: Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy)

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This was the textbook to a college class on Zarathustra, and I have to say not only am I glad I took the class, I'm incredibly happy I have this book. First I'll tackle the negatives. The teacher used this instead of Kaufmann's translation because he noticed it packed in a few lines that Kaufmann's lacked: however it also discarded some. So essentially the translation is incomplete. Additionally, (my professor is fluent in German) there are many words that he himself thought would have been a better translation. Also, on one of the sections on women, the editor puts a notation where he says that Nietzsche says "Women are not yet ready [to be friends]." The text has to be read carefully: It most certainly does not say that.

All that said, if possible I would recommend reading this book with guidance; It is highly allusory (95% of allusions are to biblical scenes) and you have to both have a good knowledge of ancient Greece as well as a very good grasp of the New Testament to be able to more fully understand some of what he's saying. Be prepared for careful study--you cannot just pick it up and read it like a novel. Each section and subsection are poetically and carefully arranged, and all sections link to previous and upcoming sections. Nietzsche's straightforward argument only becomes apparent when the book is finished.

It did indeed personally affect me. It made me realize that I valued creativity and had lost touch with that in my pursuit of a degree in biotechnology. It made me switch to accounting so I can simply make a good living while having all the time in the world to write and engage in my artistic endeavors.

As far as what people say about his views on God, if you read this book carefully, you will realize that he critiques what people say about God, and attacks the image of God as western civilization has made it, not necessarily God itself. He is neither an atheist nor theist and could barely be considered agnostic, because agnosticism implies that there is some kind of absolute knowledge, an idea which he very early decries as nonexistant. Man's role in the world is to deal with infinite uncertainty, and the prescription is to be lighthearted in your dealings and to always work towards a goal, while respecting science albeit not to the point of declaring any of science as an absolute.

I could write much more about what this book has done for me but I'll rob you of your own interpretations. Good day!

Part of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy series, Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a specially commissioned English translation of what the renowned philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche considered to be his most important work. Framed in the context of the story of the wandering Zarathustra, Thus Spoke Zarathustra applies homilies, parables, epigrams, and dreams to present philosophical doctrines. Written in a bullet-by-bullet style of short paragraphs and brief lines of dialogue, Thus Spoke Zarathustra solidly conveys Nietzsche's views of nihilism, theology, the role of compassion, and other complex subjects. An index rounds out this superb primary source of classic philosophical discussion and frame of reference. Highly recommended especially for philosophy and college library reference shelves.

A masterpiece of philosophical poetry. A love letter to the Earth & it's recpetive inhabitants.

Like a child who was recently turned on to the profound paradoxes of Eastern religions (as in the Taoist "the master travels all day without leaving home.") or modern spiritualists (like U2's "If you wanna kiss the sky better learn how to kneel"), Frederich Nietzsche filled an entire volume with wannabe profundities in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." Unfortunately for the reader of his fiction, Nietzsche's wealth of quips throughout "Zarathustra" aren't paradoxes (which are seeming contradictions that are actually true), they are just regular old contradictions.

Love is hate. War is peace. And bad is good. Nietzsche's prose is chalk full of them and to an untrained reader, the read may be interesting. After all, as historian Durant wrote, it's easy to be interesting when you have no consideration for morality. And that's exactly what we are presented with in "Zarathustra." In fact it is the central preoccupation of the book's protagonist: before the supposed good (will to power) can take root on Earth, the superman (ubermensch) must destroy morality.

But what are we left with after accepting such a philosophy? We are left with the ultimate contradiction in society: moral relativism. Nietzsche says it is so many words, there is no single universal path. Except for the path of moral relativism, perhaps? It is the classic logical error that thinkers have fallen in to (probably since Nietzsche himself), that it is right that there is no right and wrong? What's the point in uttering a truth if there is no truth?

Of course, Nietzsche couldn't come to grips with his own contradictions and succumbed to the inevitable result of such a stressful mentality: he went nuts. There is always room for exploring different ideas like Nietzsche's, but an ardent follower of the nineteenth century German thinker must risk a similar fate. We've already seen what happens when a great orator and politically powerful man (Hitler) did filled with Nietzsche's ideas. My only hope is that Zarathustra's influence fades with the smoke from a smoldering European continent after the war that was the embodiment of such a self-destructive philosophy.