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Continuing on Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, books 1 and 2 (1883).
We talk through Nietzsche's symbolism (e.g., a tightrope walker as someone trying to be a bridge between man and overman), the path toward the overman (develop a pure will to create like a child, risk your life for your creation), his various critiques including his screed against the state ("On the New Idol"), and we wrap up by discussing the Will to Power as the overcoming oneself by reconciling oneself with the past: "to recreate all 'it was' into 'thus I willed it'" ("On Redemption").
For episode 214, we'll finish the work (reading books 3 and 4) and discuss his explicit guidance on how to do this: embrace the notion of eternal recurrence.
Listen to part one first or get the ad-free, unbroken Citizen Edition. Please support PEL!
I highly enjoyed the commentary on books 1 and 2 of Zarathustra. With regard to the discussion surrounding Zarathustra’s ‘going under’ the conclusion of this theme is in book 3 under the aphorism ‘The convalescent’.
This is where Zarathustra confronts the idea of the eternal recurrence. Following the theme that the character ‘Zarathustra’ paralells Nietzsche own life, I always thought that this ‘going under’ imagry was how Nietzsche illustrates the importance of this idea within his philosophy. ie the convalescent has the thought of the eternal recurrence, and ‘thus ends’ Zarathustra’s going under.
The idea of the eternal recurrence is central to this work and Nietzsche’s thought broadly. I think that he hides the meaning purposefully and intends for the reader to dig the meaning out. Nietzsche views the eternal recurrence, the philosophy of the overman etc as the answer to a revaluation of values. Zarathustra as an artistic, life affirming work, is Nietzsche himself practicing in his real life what he was preaching in his philosophy.
Great commentary and i look forward to the next episode.
you (PEL) guys might to check out John Lysaker’s work on Emerson and self-culturing/self-cultivating,
if folks want to check out Deleuze’s more metaphysical take see:
http://www.elimeyerhoff.com/books/Deleuze/Gilles%20Deleuze%20-%20Nietzsche%20and%20Philosophy.pdf