Nietzsche and the Prophet Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Nietzsche and the Prophet According to Friedrich Nietzsches Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the mean of human being existence is to make room for the Superman a superhuman who perseveres in its capacity for unlimited self-creation. (Pg. 49)1 In order for humankind to embrace its self-creative genius and whollyow for the transcendence into this superhuman condition, however, we must first learn to destroy our present tables of values it is our desperate adherence to traditional (religious) values which pr scourts us from actualizing our emf for self-creation. It is important to note, however, that it is not the creation of these traditional values in and of itself that Nietzsche condemns. After all, self-creation is not only a positive thing but, is the true essence and gist of human existence. Rather, it is our insistence on treating these values and beliefs (e.g. the existence of God) as permanent and a priori which sickens him. When we perceive these values and beliefs as pe rmanent, it numbs both the ability and motivation for human beings to self-create the future or, what he calls, the self-creating will. As Nietzsches protagonist states, God is a supposition but I want your supposing to reach no advertize than your creating will...Willing liberates that is the true doctrine of will and freedom... (Pg.s 110-11) Manifest in Nietzsches vision of human self-creation, however, is a fundamental tension between the past and the future. On the one hand, he tells the reader that because everything is past and begs destruction, it is disgusting for anyone to blindly adhere to traditional value systems. Yet, on the other hand, the future (Superman) is fundamentally connected and, perhaps, even indebted to th... ...Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1961. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale. Penguin Books London. 2. Later on in the text, we see that this entails Zarathustra rising up and becoming the teacher of the eternal recurrence that all things, including human existence, recur eternally. As his animals tell Zarathustra, For your animals well know, O Zarathustra, who you are and must become behold, you are the teacher of the eternal recurrence, that is now your destiny That you capture to be the first to teach this doctrine...that all things recur eternally and we ourselves with them, and that we have already existed an infinite number of times before and all things with us. (The convalescent Pg. 237 italics original) Upon hearing the prophets words, however, we see that Zarathustra is not ready to become the teacher of the eternal recurrence.