Nietzsche Also Sprach Zarathustra

This paper focuses on Thus Spoke Zarathustra’s main religious sources, especially the Persian Avesta. On the one hand, it shows how Nietzsche had a deep knowledge of the prophet Zoroaster, and, on the other hand, how the latter was considered a relevant figure in Nietzsche’s time. It turns out that there are striking correspondences between Nietzsche’s Zarathustra and the Avesta, which also demonstrates Nietzsche’s intercultural approach to his studies, ranging from philosophy, religion to literature.

While a common view in the literature is that Nietzsche cannot successfully argue against Schopenhauer’s pessimism, a detailed explanation of why this is so is lacking. In this paper I provide such a detailed analysis. Specifically, a consideration of three of Nietzsche’s strategies for a revaluation of pain and suffering reveals two problems: the problem of “the direction of revaluation” and the “dilemma of the intransigence of hedonism”. According to the first, the success of a revaluation cannot be guaranteed on strictly argumentative grounds and can in principle bring about a revaluation that proceeds in the opposite direction than the one desired. According to the second, Nietzsche‘s revaluations are of no significance since they either ground an un-Nietzschean affirmation of life, or they do not engage pessimism’s hedonistic perspective on the basis of which it condemns life. I then examine two strategies that Nietzsche can be seen to employ in his attempts to revalue the hedonistic perspective itself and explain why they too are unsatisfactory. The analysis illuminates the nature of the dialectical stand-off between Nietzsche and Schopenhauer and clarifies the limitations of Nietzschean revaluations as a philosophical tool.

Nietzsches Also sprach Zarathustra ist sicher eines der meistgelesenen und insofern wirkungsvollsten Bücher des Philosophen. 1 Das muß aber nicht heißen, daß es auch zu den am besten verstandenen Werken gehört, denn was heißt hier schon philosophische Wirkung, wenn der Haupteffekt des Textes vielleicht sogar auf der poetischen Seite liegt? Der Status dieses Werkes ist nämlich in mehrfacher Hinsicht geradezu prekär. Kann man es aufgrund seiner dichterischen Aufmachung überhaupt als im eigentlichen Sinne philosophisches Werk bezeichnen? Vergleicht man es mit anderen Texten Nietzsches, fällt der Unterschied ebenso deutlich ins Auge, wie wenn man andere Texte zeitgenössischer Philosophen und Denker in den Blick nimmt. Also sprach Zarathustra gilt so als ein Buch, " das mit seinen

These registers form a set of deconstruction exercises for Heràclñito and, as good deconstruction exercises for the moment, do not need any general comment.

Surely later on these provisional results may or may not be unified, depending on what results, and at this time it depends exclusively on specific approaches.

In this way it is about avoiding all kinds of Kreuzspinnen, in each path or course of this deconstructed Heraclitus.

The records come from the comments to my work Politics, Anti-citizenship and Antipolitics in Heraclitus - An unforeseen problem published in Biblioteca Heraclitea https://www.academia.edu/s/ 2b2d27c75d? source=link (which is part of my website https:// joaquinmeabe.academia.edu/). The writings were uploaded between  9 and May 27, 2022. The texts of the deconstructive debate are included in section a); the text Politics, Anti-citizenship and Antipolitics in Heraclitus - An unforeseen problem is included in section b).

Everyone is invited to participate in this deconstructive work in the language they prefer to use.

Joaquin E. Meabe
Corrientes, May 27, 2022

«Who can reconcile the words of Muhammad […] with those of Zarathustra?» wondered Ameen Rihani in his notebook on travel in Bombay, India, in September 1922 (Rihani, Ameen F. “Thus Spake Zarathustra.” The White Way and the Desert. Platform International, 2002, p. 123). The strong interest of the Lebanese Maronite Christian author in – and, according to some scholars, even his inclination towards – Islam is evident in several of his writings and public speeches. He was also an attentive reader of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose philosophy exerted a deep influence on him. All this is well-known, but is it possible to reconcile Islam and the German philosopher’s thought? Could Rihani achieve such a difficult aim? His references to Islamic religion and Nietzsche’s philosophy, already numerous especially in the novel The Book of Khalid, would seem to find their perfect synthesis in the novelette Juhan.

These registers form a set of deconstruction exercises for Heràclñito and, as good deconstruction exercises for the moment, do not need any general comment.

Surely later on these provisional results may or may not be unified, depending on what results, and at this time it depends exclusively on specific approaches.

In this way it is about avoiding all kinds of Kreuzspinnen, in each path or course of this deconstructed Heraclitus.

The records come from the comments to my work Politics, Anti-citizenship and Antipolitics in Heraclitus - An unforeseen problem published in Biblioteca Heraclitea https://www.academia.edu/s/ 2b2d27c75d? source=link (which is part of my website https:// joaquinmeabe.academia.edu/). The writings were uploaded between  9 and May 27, 2022. The texts of the deconstructive debate are included in section a); the text Politics, Anti-citizenship and Antipolitics in Heraclitus - An unforeseen problem is included in section b).

Everyone is invited to participate in this deconstructive work in the language they prefer to use.

Joaquin E. Meabe
Corrientes, May 27, 2022

Man kann Nietzsches Kritik der Moralität als ein Versuch verstehen, eine neue Ethik der Freiheit zu entwickeln. Und zwar nicht im Sinne der Freiheit des freien Willen, aber als Freiheit des Schaffens in der weitesten Bedeutung; der Übermensch bei Nietzsche ist eben ein kreatives Subjekt, das neue Werte schafft. Dazu braucht der Übermensch aber eine negative Freiheit, Freiheit vom Ressentiment, oder - metaphorisch gesprochen -die Erlösung von aller möglichen Erlösung. Als Theorie des Praxis der Freiheit verstehe ich zwar die "metaphysische" Vorstellungen des Übermenschen und der ewigen Wiederkehr. Diese Vorstellungen können auch als Metaphorik der praktischen Philosophie verstanden werden. Ich lege die erste Rede Zarathustras (Von den drei Verwandlungen) so aus, um diese Interpretation zu unterstützen. Es ist auch interessant zu fragen, ob diese praktische Philosophie nicht ganz veraltet sei. Der Standpunkt Nietzsches ist ex definitione unzeitgemäß, in anderen Worten: durchaus utopisch (etwa im Sinne Mannheims). Nietzsche richtet sich mit dieser Ethik der Freiheit gegen allen Ideologien, bleibt er aber nicht selber ideologisch? Sein Entwurf kann niemals einen sozialen Grund haben; das Intersubjektive ist auch seine Achillesferse. Und deshalb scheint es mir selbstverständlich, dass es keinen "wirklichen" Nietzscheaner, der mit Nietzsche ganz einverstanden wäre, gab und gibt.

Mateos de Manuel, Victoria (2016) Mediodía. del sentido de presente en la filosofía, Estudios Nietzsche. Revista de la Sociedad Española de Estudios Nietzsche, nº 16 sobre Así habló Zaratustra, 73-90.

RESUMEN: En este artículo sostengo que la contraposición nietzscheana entre pensamiento-espíritu de la pesadez-y vida-bailes ligeros, pies de muchachas de hermosos tobillos-está articulada en torno a la cuestión de la temporalidad y el ritmo. Esta tensión metafórica que aparece en Así habló Zaratustra contiene la idea de la imposibilidad de la filosofía para sincronizarse con el mundo de la vida y, por tanto, de acontecer simultáneamente a la existencia. A lo largo de su obra, Nietzsche plantea dos posibles tiempos anacrónicos del pensamiento. En primer lugar, la filosofía es siempre pasado: queda como dación de sentido póstumo a la existencia o intensificación ulterior de lo vital. En segundo lugar, el pensamiento es muro de contención a través del tiempo de la inminencia, como plantea su inicial dionisismo filtrado por lo apolíneo. En Así habló Zaratustra, frente a estos dos modos de desfase del pensamiento en relación a lo vital, Nietzsche aporta una nueva propuesta articuladora del tiempo en la filosofía y la posibilidad de su presente: el presente del pensamiento no es el presente de la escritura, sino el de su actualización en la lectura-el país de los hijos-. Palabras clave: espíritu de la pesadez, mediodía, país de los hijos, inminencia, abismo, ritmo.
ABSTRACT: In this article I propose that Nietzsche's contrast between thought-der Geist der Schwere-and life-liebliche Mädchen, Mädchen-Füßen mit schönen Knöcheln-is mainly based on the question of temporality and rhythm. This dialectical metaphor is developed in his book Also sprach Zarathustra and it shows that philosophy and life are not synchronous, they have different beats. Philosophy and life do not happen simultaneously and Nietzsche proposes two possible anachronies in which thought takes place. Firstly, philosophy is a sort of past time: it gives a later sense or subsequent meaning to existence, and narration is a way of intensifying life. Secondly, thought belongs to the temporality of imminence and language can be understood as a sort of Apollonian dam that helps to restrain and filter the Dyonisian pole of existence. Compared to these two time-modes, Nietzsche makes a proposal in Also sprach Zarathustra that manages to articulate the possibility of a present time for philosophy: its present is not the one that takes place when the text is being written, but rather the actualisation of the text through readers-das Kinder Land- .

È importante per noi essere condotti ogni tanto a ridosso del confine dell'umano, secondo quello che è stato originariamente il senso della festa. La sua storia si può ricondurre a due grandi aspettative: al desiderio di essere identici all'animale e alla speranza di vedere l'ingresso degli dèi. Condizione necessaria per tali avvicinamenti è che l'uomo si mantenga aperto. Che oggi ne sia meno capace, e che oggi sia certamente anche meno disposto a farlo rispetto a tutti gli altri periodi della storia, proponendosi piuttosto di umanizzare il mondo e di penetrarlo di sostanza umana, è noto. Bisogna dunque supporre che le antenne che una volta erano presenti stiano lentamente degenerando e atrofizzandosi? Questa è l'opinione di Huxley nel Brave New World. O non è proprio lo sgombero e l'espulsione totale dei residui metafisici logorati con il tempo a consentire l'attesa dell'inaudito? Nietzsche, che fa piazza pulita e cancella con gli dèi anche gli uomini, nutre apertamente grandi speranze. Ma si esprime in maniera indeterminata. Come Zarathustra, il saggio ha potuto e può vivere in ogni tempo. Che cosa significa però vivere lontano dal contatto con quei confini entro i quali sono contenuti non solo gli uomini, ma anche gli dèi e gli animali? Un interrogativo, questo, che ha sempre reso inquieti e riempito d'angoscia gli uomini e che ancora oggi resta la più segreta delle loro preoccupazioni.

The presence of Persian sources in Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra has been a topic of debate for decades. This paper summarizes the main results of a comparative study of Nietzsche and the ancient Persian scripture Avestā. In addition to several secondary sources Nietzsche repeatedly encountered, there is strong evidence that he read Johann Friedrich Kleuker’s German translation of the Avestā texts reconstructed by Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron. Analyzing Nietzsche’s diverse sources of Zoroastrianism as well as his knowledge of this religion, this paper shows that many metaphors, references and claims in both Thus Spoke Zarathustra and in Nietzsche’s notebooks can be traced back to Zoroastrianism. Taking these sources into consideration contributes significantly to our understanding of one of Nietzsche’s major works.

In the present article I aim to discuss the Jungian interpretation of the work Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, trying to highlight the way several aspects of Nietzschean thought play a central role in the development of psychoanalytic theory. Despite the Freudian denial of such an influence and the predominant clinical approach Jung gave to his own analysis of the text in question, Nietzsche continues to attract and repel scholars within a basic recurrence which however allows us to see, in line with the most recent interpretations of his text, the ethical and theoretical importance of his reflection.

Das Experiment lautet, zwei Texte verschiedener Gattungen, Herkünfte und Zeiten zusam-menstoßen zu lassen: gibt es eine und wenn ja, worin besteht ihre Vergleichbarkeit?-Über-setzbar werden sie dank des doppelten Reflexionsprozesses auf ihren geschichtsphilosophi-schen Gehalt und ihren Gegenwartsbezug: Lassen wir also den Übermenschen aus Nietz-sches Zarathustra mit dem Lohnschreiber Bartleby von Herman Melville zusammentreffen. 1 I. Einführend in die Inhalte ihrer Stoffschichten ist festzuhalten, daß in Nietzsches zwischen 1882-85 konzipierter Bibel der Zukunft der Prophet Zarathustra nach 2500 Jahren aus Red-lichkeit zurückkehrt, 2 um einzubekennen, daß seine Erfindung, die Moral, durch deren Hilfe die vorhistorische Menschheit verbessert und zum endgültigen Sieg des Guten über das Böse ge-führt werden sollte, ein Irrtum darstellt, denn das "Experiment ‚Geschichte'" mißlang. 3 Die Menschheit ist keineswegs erlöst durch dies Heilsversprechen, im Gegenteil es liefert immer neue blutige Anlässe, Gegner zu bekämpfen-darin steckt nicht nur eine manifeste Fort-schrittskritik, sondern auch eine Dekadenztheorie, sodaß Nietzsche damit die frühe Version der Dialektik der Aufklärung vorgelegt hat-also durch seine Wiederkehr korrigiert er die Ge-schichte durch die Umwertung, einen "Immoralismus" nach dem "Tod Gottes". Aber das ist nur die exoterische Dimension, neben der eine esoterisch-hermetische Struktur zu entdecken ist. Den Schreiber Bartleby stellt Melville 1853 in einer Novelle vor, die im Untertitel doppeldeutig A Wall Street Story heißt, was einerseits eines der vielen Gerüchte sein kann, die dort kursie-ren, andererseits aber die Geschichte der Straße selbst, nicht mehr traditionell idealistisch im historisch-chronologischen Sinn, sondern in einem sinnlich-materialistischen Geschichtsver-ständnis, wie Benjamin es vertrat: als ihre innere Geschichte, die sich in einem Bild kristalli-siert, das aus dem flüchtigen "Kontakt des Einzelnen mit dem Universellen" entspringt, in dem "allein das Ganze wirklich ist". 4 Die Fiktion des quasi-dokumentarischen Berichts eines ano-nym bleibenden bourgeoisen Anwalts für Eigentums-und Grundbesitzrecht über einen seiner Schreiber beschreibt dessen Kollision mit der eintönigen Routine des Kanzleialltags. Zuvor werden allzumenschliche Schwächen der Mitarbeiter skizziert. Vermauerte Ausblicke betonen 1 Die Wiederkehr Nietzsches aus Frankreich in den 80-ziger Jahren, ein Protest gegen die steril gewor-dene Studentenrevolte im Namen von Sinnlichkeit und Individualismus, trifft auf Kapitalismus-Kritik nach der Weltwirtschaftskrise am Anfang des 21. Jhdts. 2 Mit seiner enigmatischen Bildersprache sollte der Zarathustra die Vorhalle zu Nietzsches unvollendeter Spätphilosophie bilden. Deren Theoreme werden im veröffentlichen Werk daher genetisch und kontextu-ell nur dort vorgestellt: Heraufkunft des Nihilismus, Umwertung aller Werte, Wille zur Macht und ewige Wiederkunft. Teile dieses geplanten Hauptwerks erschienen lediglich als die Einzelwerke Götzendäm-merung und Antichrist. 3 Nietzsche: Ecce Homo, KSA 6, 255 4 Rita Bischof: Teleskopagen, wahlweise, Klostermann, Frankfurt 2001, S. 30.

Um eine Zukunft denken zu können, muss es möglich sein, irgendwie die Gegenwart zu überwinden. Eine echte Zukunft muss etwas Neues mit sich bringen, etwas, das imstande ist, einen Bruch gegenüber der Gegenwart zu erzeugen. Andernfalls hätten wir keine Zukunft, sonder eine einzige lange, unveränderte Gegenwart.
Diese verlängerte Gegenwart ist nach Nietzsche die Zeitgestaltung, welcher der letzte Mensch entspricht, indem er die verlängerte Gegenwart erschließt und entfaltet.

The article begins by asking what purpose is served by music in Stanley Kubrick’s later films
- It muses loosely over the role played by music in ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and ‘A Clockwork Orange’, then points out how Kubrick ceased hiring cinema composers after making ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, then introduces some implications of his using classical and contemporary music in that film.
- It briefly recounts how Kubrick came to make the film, his contact with Arthur C. Clarke, what project Clarke was working on, and the then current state of the space race; then speeds quickly over their collaboration in writing the screenplay, and the making of the film, followed by a short summary of the plot.
- It points to the overt influence of Marshall McLuhan’s ideas on key aspects of the film's plot, especially McLuhan’s contemporaneous arguments about evolution and technology, and technology-human interfaces, showing where and how McLuhan's theories connect with issues in the plot.
- It discusses how Kubrick's film presents a vision of the future that is non-military, and space travel and exploration is corporatised.  Clarke rejected this, and gave a very different view in his novel, making the mission a military expedition.
- In light of this, it considers Kubrick’s earlier fatalistic films with military themes, ‘Paths of Glory’ and ‘Dr Strangelove’, suggesting that Kubrick was pressing a significant point in eliminating military involvement in space exploration—by removing the military the film was future-affirming.
- It discusses the ‘killer ape’ theory which became popular across anthropology, psychology and archeology in the 1950s and early 1960s, highlighting the then accepted theories of Konrad Lorenz and Raymond Dart (ideas now discredited); it shows that Kubrick and Clarke learned about Dart’s ideas of violence, human evolution and cognition when researching the ‘Dawn of Man’ sequence (it identifies which book they picked up the theory from), and then built the film around the 'killer ape' theory.
- The article returns to the original puzzle about the purpose served by music.  Going over the music used in certain passages of the film, it shows how Kubrick used music symbolically.  It further concludes that alert intellectually informed audiences of the mid 1960s would perceive the use of Richard Strauss’s music at key points in the film as bringing to the fore the well-known theories about humanity of Nietzsche, McLuhan and Dart.

“Conosceva Nietzsche i testi dell’antico Zoroastro? Lo sfondo culturale, le implicazioni simboliche e le più pregnanti note caratteristiche dell’antichissima civiltà di Persia? Perché il suo nuovo Zarathustra, questa volta, vuole e deve ritornare svelando la comune radice del bene e del male?”

«Tre pensatori come un ragno. In ogni setta filosofica si susseguono tre pensatori in questo rapporto: il primo produce da sé il succo e il seme, il secondo ne trae fili e tesse una rete artificiale, il terzo sta in agguato in questa rete, in attesa di vittime che vi si impiglino – e cerca di vivere della filosofia».

F. Nietzsche, Umano, troppo umano II, Opinioni e sentenze diverse, §. 194.

.... il quarto pensatore? Colui che fa dell’approfondimento il proprio obiettivo primario, immergendosi nel profondo del pensiero di un filosofo ricercando le motivazioni più autentiche che lo hanno condotto alla stesura di un’opera?
Quest’ultimo lavoro di Emanuele Enrico Mariani ha senza dubbio queste caratteristiche, è puntuale, meticoloso, onesto. Per ovvie ragioni non esaustivo, contribuisce fattivamente all’approfondimento di moventi e di elementi di ispirazione, scandagliando le radici più inesplorate in cui affonda il travaglio di Nietzsche nella creazione dell’opera che, in gran parte, rappresenta la sintesi del suo pensare: il “Così parlò Zarathustra”.
Lungi dalla pretesa o dal semplice sospetto di volersi ergere a pura verità, la presente ricerca compie più di un passo in avanti nella comprensione e nel “disvelamento” delle profonde conoscenze che Nietzsche aveva maturato in anni di studi e riflessioni. Il tutto tentando, spesso con successo, di proporre un’interpretazione dello Zarathustra libera da pregiudizi e valutazioni mossi da intenti mistificatori e utilitaristici.

I de to monumentale portrettutgavene har Munch klart å fremstille en høyst subjektiv syntese av Zarathustra og Nietzsche, ifølge Rognerud. Profetens følgesvenner – ørnen, løven og slangen, de «indre vesener» – blir i maleriene visualisert gjennom det ytre formale. Den symbolske betydningen i Munchs portretter har lenge vært oversett, og maleriene av Nietzsche ble tidligere  vurdert som «mislykkede». Én grunn til dette, uttalte Rognerud, er den kontroversielle forbindelsen mellom Nietzsches tanker om «overmennesket» og nasjonalsosialismen som senere blomstret i Tyskland.