Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra: An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide

241 Pages·2010·1.07 MB·English

by  Nietzsche

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EDINBURGH PHILOSOPHICAL GUIDES
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General Editor: Douglas Burnham t
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The books in this series are specifically written for students reading s
philosophy for the first time. Focusing on passages most frequently taught c
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at university level each book is a step-by-step guide to help you read the
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key texts from the history of philosophy with confidence and perception.
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Each book offers: s

(cid:129) a summary of the text T
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(cid:129) an overview of its key ideas
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(cid:129) historical context
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(cid:129) a guide to further reading and study
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Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra

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Douglas Burnham and Martin Jesinghausen a
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‘Burnham and Jesinghausen have provided an intelligent commentary,
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interspersed with brief amplifying excursions, that will help new and returning h
readers to disclose many meanings in the text, along its literary as well as u
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philosophical dimensions.’Graham Parkes, translator of Thus Spoke Zarathustra
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Thus Spoke Zarathustrais one of Nietzsche’s greatest books and a key primary text for a
philosophy and literature students alike. Attempting a redefinition of the form–content
correlation in philosophical writing, it combines philosophical innovation with literary
experimentation. This radical new approach means that it is a groundbreaking work,
yet one that is almost impossible for the first-time reader to understand. Nietzsche's
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Designed to be read alongside Thus Spoke Zarathustra, this Edinburgh Philosophical o
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Douglas Burnham is Professor of Philosophy at Staffordshire University and author aa
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of An Introduction to Kant’s Critique of Judgement(EUP, 2000). se a
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Martin Jesinghausenis a Senior Lecturer in English, also at Staffordshire University. d

Zarathustra
ISBN 978 0 7486 3833 8
Edinburgh University Press E
22 George Square d
i
Edinburgh n
b Douglas Burnham and Martin Jesinghausen
EH8 9LF u
www.euppublishing.com r
g
Cover design: www.paulsmithdesign.com h
Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra
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Edinburgh Philosophical Guides Series
Titles in the series include:
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
Douglas Burnham with Harvey Young
Derrida’s Of Grammatology
Arthur Bradley
Heidegger’s Being and Time
William Large
Plato’s Republic
D. J. Sheppard
Spinoza’s Ethics
Beth Lord
Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy
Kurt Brandhorst
Husserl’s The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology
Katrin Joost
Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Douglas Burnham and Martin Jesinghausen
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Nietzsche’s
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide
Douglas Burnham and Martin Jesinghausen
Edinburgh University Press
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© Douglas Burnham and Martin Jesinghausen, 2010
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 George Square, Edinburgh
www.euppublishing.com
Typeset in 11/13pt Monotype Baskerville
by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and
printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7486 3832 1 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 7486 3833 8 (paperback)
The right of Douglas Burnham and Martin Jesinghausen
to be identifi ed as authors of this work
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Contents
Series Editor’s Preface ix
Acknowledgements x
1. Introduction and Historical Context 1
The Future and the Re- Imagined Past 3
Zarathustra as Nietzsche’s Future 3
Zarathustra, the Future and the Philosophy of History 6
The Text of Zarathustra as Vision of Future Writing 8
Zarathustra and the Shape of Things to Come 11
About This Book 14
2. A Guide to the Text 15
Prologue 15
Section 1 15
Section 2 17
Section 3 19
Section 4 21
Section 5 23
Sections 6–7 24
Section 8 25
Section 9 26
Section 10 27
Part I 28
Section 1, ‘On the Three Transformations’, and a
Note on Spirit 28
Section 2, ‘On the Professorial Chairs of Virtue’, and a
Note on Nietzsche and Satire 32
Section 3, ‘On Believers in a World Behind’ 34
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vi Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Section 4, ‘On the Despisers of the Body’, and a Note
on Will to Power 35
Section 5, ‘On Enjoying and Suffering the Passions’ 39
Section 6, ‘On the Pale Criminal’ 41
Section 7, ‘On Reading and Writing’ 44
Section 8, ‘On the Tree on the Mountainside’ 46
Section 9, ‘On the Preachers of Death’ 48
Section 10, ‘On War and Warrior-Peoples’ 48
Section 11, ‘On the New Idol’ 50
Section 12, ‘On the Flies in the Market- Place’ 51
Section 13, ‘On Chastity’ 52
Section 14, ‘On the Friend’ 53
Section 15, ‘On the Thousand Goals and One’, and a
Note on Nietzsche and Evolution 55
Section 16, ‘On the Love of One’s Neighbour’ 59
Section 17, ‘On the Way of the Creator’ 61
Section 18, ‘On Old and Young Little Women’ 63
Section 19, ‘On the Bite of the Adder’ 67
Section 20, ‘On Children and Marriage’ 67
Section 21, ‘On Free Death’ 68
Section 22, ‘On the Bestowing Virtue’ 69
Part II 75
Section 1, ‘The Child With the Mirror’ 75
Section 2, ‘Upon the Isles of the Blest’ 76
Section 3, ‘On Those Who Pity’ 81
Section 4, ‘On the Priests’ 81
Section 5, ‘On the Virtuous’ 83
Section 6, ‘On the Rabble’, and a Note on Nietzsche
and Social Taxonomy 85
Section 7, ‘On the Tarantulas’ 87
Section 8, ‘On the Famous Wise Men’ 88
Section 9, ‘The Night-Song’ 91
Section 10, ‘The Dance-Song’ 92
Section 11, ‘The Grave-Song’ 95
Section 12, ‘On Self-Overcoming’ 96
Section 13, ‘On Those Who are Sublime’ 99
Section 14, ‘On the Land of Culture’, and a Note on
Bildung 101
Section 15, ‘On Immaculate Perception’ 104
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Contents vii
Section 16, ‘On the Scholars’ 105
Section 17, ‘On the Poets’, and a Note on Nietzsche,
Music and Language 107
Section 18, ‘On Great Events’ 115
Section 19, ‘The Soothsayer’ 116
Section 20, ‘On Redemption’ 118
Section 21, ‘On Human Cleverness’ 121
Section 22, ‘The Stillest Hour’ 122
Part III 123
Section 1, ‘The Wanderer’, and a Note on Contingency 123
Section 2, ‘On the Vision and Riddle’, and a Note
on Eternal Recurrence 125
Section 3, ‘On Blissfulness Against One’s Will’ 132
Section 4 ‘Before the Sunrise’, and a Note on Epiphany 133
Section 5, ‘On the Virtue that Makes Smaller’ 138
Section 6, ‘Upon the Mount of Olives’ 140
Section 7, ‘On Passing By’, and a Note on the
Comprehensive Soul 141
Section 8, ‘On Apostates’ 145
Section 9, ‘The Return Home’ 146
Section 10, ‘On the Three Evils’, and a Note on
Perspectivism 148
Section 11, ‘On the Spirit of Heaviness’, and a Note on
Reactive Will to Power 153
Section 12, ‘On Old and New Tablets’ 156
Section 13, ‘The Convalescent’ 160
Section 14, ‘On the Great Yearning’ 162
Section 15, ‘The Other Dance-Song’ 164
Section 16, ‘The Seven Seals’ 166
Part IV 168
Section 1, ‘The Honey Sacrifi ce’ 171
Section 2, ‘The Cry of Need’ 172
Section 3, ‘Conversation with the Kings’ 173
Section 4, ‘The Leech’ 174
Section 5, ‘The Sorcerer’ 175
Section 6, ‘Retired from Service’ 175
Section 7, ‘The Ugliest Man’ 176
Section 8, ‘The Voluntary Beggar’ 177
Section 9, ‘The Shadow’ 178
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viii Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Section 10, ‘At Midday’ 179
Section 11, ‘The Welcome’ 182
Section 12, ‘The Last Supper’ 183
Section 13, ‘On the Superior Human’ 184
Section 14, ‘The Song of Melancholy’ 186
Section 15, ‘On Science’ 189
Section 16, ‘Among the Daughters of the Desert’ 190
Sections 17–18, ‘The Awakening’ and ‘The Ass Festival’ 192
Section 19, ‘The Drunken Song’ 194
Section 20, ‘The Sign’ 198
3. Study Aids 199
Types of Question You Will Encounter 199
Tips for Writing about Nietzsche 200
Notes 202
Bibliography and Guide to Further Reading 210
Index 222
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Series Editor’s Preface
To us, the principle of this series of books is clear and simple: what
readers new to philosophical classics need fi rst and foremost is help
with reading these key texts. That is to say, help with the often antique
or artifi cial style, the twists and turns of arguments on the page, as well
as the vocabulary found in many philosophical works. New readers also
need help with those fi rst few daunting and disorienting sections of these
books, the point of which are not at all obvious. The books in this series
take you through each text step- by- step, explaining complex key terms
and diffi cult passages which help to illustrate the way a philosopher
thinks in prose.
We have designed each volume in the series to correspond to the way
the texts are actually taught at universities around the world, and have
included helpful guidance on writing university- level essays or exami-
nation answers. Designed to be read alongside the text, our aim is to
enable you to read philosophical texts with confi dence and perception.
This will enable you to make your own judgements on the texts, and on
the variety of opinions to be found concerning them. We want you to
feel able to join the great dialogue of philosophy, rather than remain a
well-i nformed eavesdropper.
Douglas Burnham
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