The idea of ​​the superman in the work “Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The idea of ​​a superman Based on the work of F. Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra Russian State University for the Humanities

"Thus Spoke Zarathustra" - perhaps Nietzsche's most influential and specific work - almost defies any adequate retelling and exposition, if such should be brief. The subtitle of the book is paradoxical: "A book for everyone and for no one." The name "Zarathustra" is taken from Eastern legends and beliefs - with the undoubted purpose of emphasizing the difference between the "wisdom of life" preached by Zarathustra and typical European norms, values, and dogmas.

The plot and style of the book are as follows. When Zarathustra was thirty years old, he left his homeland and went to the mountains, enjoying solitude for ten years. But now he was fed up with his wisdom, his heart turned to the sun for parting words and blessings to go down to the people. He descended from the mountains and met an old man who, in his hermitage, was looking for God. The elder immediately noticed: Zarathustra's gaze is pure, there is no disgust on his face. Isn't that why he walks like he's dancing? The elder, having learned about Zarathustra's intention to go to people, persuades him to stay in the forest. But Zarathustra answers: "I love people." And parting with the holy elder, he thinks: “Is this possible?! This holy elder in his forest has not yet heard that God is dead!”

Zarathustra's communication with people is a series of everyday pictures skillfully drawn by Nietzsche and parables of moral, psychological, philosophical content told by Zarathustra. Thus, parting with the elder, Zarathustra rushed to the city, which was beyond the forest. The people gathered in the market square to stare at the dancer on the tightrope. Before the performance, Zarathustra addressed the people with a sermon, which was supposed to "teach about the superman." What, as it turned out, is the meaning of this teaching? Nature develops from the worm to man, "but much in you," Zarathustra addresses his listeners, "remains of the worm. Once upon a time you were monkeys, and even now man is more ape than any of the apes." The proximity of man to the natural, animal world is undeniable. Man is the son of the earth. "Be faithful to the earth," preaches Zarathustra, and elaborates: "but do I command you to become a ghost or a plant?" Loyalty to the earth means only that one cannot trust "unearthly hopes." This is an allusion to religion, which again makes Zarathustra repeat: "God is dead."

Even Kierkegaard threw an accusation against religion: "Christendom killed Christ." Almost the same words Nietzsche puts into the mouth of Zarathustra and one of the characters in the work "Merry Science": "Where is God?" he exclaimed. "I'll tell you! We killed him - you and I! We are all murderers! .. God is dead ! God is dead!" (Aphorism 125). Belief in the Christian God, Nietzsche concluded, was no longer credible. Kierkegaard was a religious man - he sought to renew the Christian faith, returning to its evangelical origins and rejecting the later practices and teachings of the church that had compromised themselves. Nietzsche, at first glance, approached the criticism of the Christian religion and the church more decisively and coolly. But even his anti-Christian sentiments are marked by contradictions and a kind of painful anguish. Rebellion against the Christian faith and the church was given to these nineteenth-century intellectuals. at the cost of suffering, inner spiritual discord. Incidentally, Nietzsche remarks in Zarathustra: "Before, blasphemy against God was the greatest blasphemy; but GOD died, and these blasphemers died with him." But what about man? In Zarathustra's sermon, the sharpest accusations against people are expressed: "Is not your soul poverty and filth and miserable self-satisfaction?", "indeed, a person is a dirty stream." People talk about virtue, justice, but in order to really achieve them, a person "must be a flame and coal", i.e. superman. "But where is the lightning that will lick you with its tongue? Where is the madness that should be instilled in you? Look, I teach you about the superworm; he is this lightning, he is this madness." And while Zarathustra spoke like this, the crowd thought that it was a rope dancer, and began to shout, "to be finally shown. And everyone began to laugh at Zarathustra. Thus began the speeches of Zarathustra - speeches-sermons, speeches-allegories. About what but Zarathustra did not speak!

He spoke about "three transformations of the spirit": first the spirit became a camel, then the camel became a lion, and the lion became a child. The meaning of these symbolic transformations: first, the spirit wants to experience the weight of its burden, wants to be loaded, like a camel, and hurries to its desert. Then the spirit wants to gain freedom and, like a lion, become a master. However, the lion spirit soon realizes that, while enjoying freedom, he cannot become a creative spirit. The symbol of the child means a complete renewal of the spirit, "initial movement, sacred affirmation."

Plan

1. F. Nietzsche "As Zarathustra said."

a) Thoughts and ideas

b) Conclusion

2. Plato "Dialogues".

3. Philosophy of Dostoevsky.

4. Philosophy of Tolstoy.

Bibliography

This work was written based on the book by F. Nietzsche "As Zarathustra said", the book contains a large number of various thoughts and ideas. For my work, I chose a few basic ideas, which will be discussed below. I will try to reveal them as fully as possible and express my opinion on these ideas of F. Nietzsche. The book is written in the first person - Zarathustra, who at the age of 30 left his homeland and went to the mountains. And after ten years Zarathustra

About scientists. Nietzsche sharply criticizes scientists and the entire scientific world. However, it is difficult to understand the basis of this criticism, there is too much symbolism in the statements. “While I was sleeping, the sheep began to eat the ivy wreath on my head, and, eating, she said: “Zarathustra is no longer a scientist.” From this statement, we can conclude that Zarathustra, the hero created by Nietzsche, used to be a scientist himself or had something to do with scientists. But over time, Zarathustra understood all the "rottenness" of the society of scientists, and science in general: "For the truth is that I left the house of scientists, and slammed the door behind me." As the author writes: “Too long my soul sat hungry at their table; I have not learned, like them, knowledge, like cracking nuts. Apparently this was one of the reasons for leaving the society of scientists, Nietzsche sees it as too "empty", and doing nothing. He believes that all scientists are simply "basking in titles and honors." He believes that scientists are too careful in their reasoning. That there is no ardor in their hearts, they, scientists, have forgotten how to lie, and believe only in experience, their judgments are superficial, and truths are insignificant, they themselves are already wary of each other. The following quotes are an example of this:

“When they pretend to be wise, I get chills from petty sayings and their truths; often their wisdom smells like it comes from a swamp; and verily, I have already heard the frog croaking in it.”

"I do not believe in frozen minds"

"They keep a keen eye on each other's fingers and don't trust each other too much."

In the last fourth part, the author “shouts”: “Beware also of scientists! They hate you: for they are barren! They have cold, withered eyes, before them lies every plucked bird. From this it is clear that F. Nietzsche criticizes not science, and not the scientists themselves, but the scientific approach. And he hates this scientific approach because the scientists "peel off the feathers from the bird", because they explain miracles with their cold judgments and simple mechanical laws. For the fact that their mind is too dried up by science. Because of their scientific explanations, they lose the feeling of life, turn the reality around into a world of continuous information and numbers, a world where everything is standard, and a world is set using the language of numbers, where everything can be described through a formula. And if some phenomenon is incomprehensible, then they immediately set up an experiment, and this experience is an irrefutable proof of any formula. Nietzsche speaks out against all this through his Zarathustra, who brings a new attitude to people. And this new attitude is dominated by laughter and kindness, love, and a joyful dance. There is no spirit of heaviness and thoughtfulness here. And I agree with Nietzsche, but only if one does not go beyond criticism of the scientific approach. But in his later book, Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche speaks of scientists even more harshly. And although indeed science at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries was still only on the verge of great discoveries, such as the laser, the theory of relativity, the energy of the atom, etc., I still consider the criticism sharp and unfounded in relation to scientists, if the edge of criticism of the scientific approach and begin to "expose" the entire scientific world, showing all its inconsistency. H. P. Blautskaya, one of the most controversial personalities of the 20th century, in her work "The Secret Doctrine" also cites a large number of "real" facts in order to prove the ignorance of the scientific world. But the world and science are developing independently of "denouncers" such as F. Nietzsche and E. P. Blautskaya, and now we are reaping the fruits of "rotten" and "inaccurate" science with pleasure. The computer and cell phone have become commonplace in the last century. And everyone knows the harmony of philosophy, love, goodness, regardless of the time in which he lives. Therefore, the attacks of philosophers on science, which has given the world a huge number of useful things, I consider unfounded.

About the church and priests. First of all, let's turn to the biography of F. Nietzsche himself. The philosopher's father and mother were priests, and little Friedrich was brought up in a deeply religious family, he often attended church with his father, and grew up in love with God. But when he grew up, he was one of the first to firmly declare: "God is dead!"

Nietzsche believes that religion is false, and gives false values ​​to people, deceiving them: “The one whom they call the deliverer has chained them. Into the chains of false values ​​and words of madness! Oh, that someone would deliver them from their deliverer! And the “deliverer” “knew only the tears and sorrow of the Jew, along with the hatred of the good and righteous - this Jew Jesus; then the longing for death attacked him. Why didn't he stay in the wilderness and away from the good and righteous! Perhaps he would learn to live and learn to love the earth - and at the same time laugh. Believe me, my brothers! He died too soon; he himself would have renounced his teaching if he had reached my age!” Pretty solid claim that Jesus is just undersized to the right age. Nietzsche clearly expresses his disgust for the Christian religion: "They knew how to love their God only by crucifying a man!" He is "sick" of churches: "Oh, this fake light, this stale air! Here the soul does not dare to fly up to its height! Instead of religion, Nietzsche offers philosophy, his own philosophy. Philosophy - superman. He believes that even Jesus himself would eventually have abandoned his sermons. Therefore, puts himself on an equal footing with him. And through the mouth of his Zarathustra, he speaks of a new formation of man: "I would believe only in such a God who could dance." That is, Nietzsche is ready to believe in the existence of God, but only a cheerful, dancing God, and not that dogmatic, all-forgiving "Christian" God. This rejection is generated by a long and deep philosophical analysis. Nietzsche would later elaborate on all his thoughts on religion in Antichrist. In As Zarathustra Spoke, Nietzsche only speaks superficially about religion, or rather, he denies the church, priests, Christianity, without citing a single clear fact on the basis of which he draws such conclusions. Here we can consider F. Nietzsche as a nihilist. He judges passionately, but unconvincingly.

About war and warriors. F. Nietzsche devoted a separate "conversation" of Zarathustra to this thought. And he clearly and specifically outlined all the ideas and thoughts about the war and wars. And you can't say anything better than Nietzsche's words. It is only necessary to explain what F. Nietzsche means by the concepts of "war" and "warrior". By “war” the author understands not only military operations, but also various life situations, and life in general, by the concept of “warrior” the author understands not so much soldiers and the military as each person as a person, attributing to him the qualities of a warrior: courage, strength , endurance, etc. In general, these are rather abstract concepts, and it is quite difficult to specify exactly what the philosopher means by them. It is best to read the thoughts of Nietzsche himself:

“I see many soldiers; how I would like to see many warriors! "Uniform" is what they wear; may not be a uniform what they hide under it!

“Be one whose eyes are always looking for the enemy—your enemy.”

“You are looking for your enemy, you are waging your own war, a war for your thoughts!”

"Love peace as a means to new wars."

“I call you not to work, but to struggle. I call you not to peace, but to victory. Let your work be a struggle and your peace be a victory!”

“You can be silent and sit still only when there are arrows and a bow; otherwise they talk and scold.

“You say that a good cause illuminates even war? I tell you that the blessing of war illuminates any goal.

“War and courage have done more great things than love of neighbor. It was not your pity, but your courage that saved the hitherto unfortunate.

"What well? You ask. It's good to be brave. Let little girls say, “Being kind is sweet and touching at the same time.”

From this set of quotes, we can well imagine how Nietzsche wants to see a man - a "warrior". He believes that every person should be a "warrior", and accept "war" not as a necessary service, but as a way of life, each person must constantly fight for his thoughts, ideas, and certainly defend them. And Nietzsche wants victory for every individual who leads his struggle, but not everyone will win the struggle, but this is not so important, it is the process that is important. The author brings us to the fact that "war" must always take place, since without war people begin to lose the orientation of good and evil, love and compassion, always in order to understand the truth of compassion, it is necessary that cruelty also exist, just as and with good, in order to understand what is good and what is bad, it is necessary to compare. The reality of life requires courage, struggle, tension, firmness, rigidity from a person, and not kindness and relaxation. The philosopher says that more great things are done in the struggle than in the ordinary state. It is the struggle, individuals, that singles out the strongest, it is the struggle that kills the weak and “rotten”. In confrontation, people reach the limit of their capabilities, the confrontation shows all the shortcomings of each person. Struggle is the main instrument of selection in nature. And the most striking example of this is world history. Rulers such as Ivan the Terrible and Peter I were far from being kind, on the contrary, their times are marked by a bloody dot on the map of history, the number of wars in their time is high. However, Peter I is a great reformer, and the creator of the Russian fleet, a victorious one. Ivan the Terrible - one of the most respected and significant personalities in the history of Rus', expanded the borders three times. “The love of the people is a mixture of equally love and fear” - therefore F. Nietzsche is completely right when he says that “the good of war illuminates any goal!”. No matter how the war is condemned, no matter how terrible it is, it is still necessary, both globally and locally. This is not a call for a new world war, this is a statement of the fact of the need for war, death and fear. So that people learn to appreciate love, life and freedom. Equal weights must lie on the scales on both sides so that the scales are in balance. In the absence of weights, the scales themselves lose all meaning. So in life either there is good and evil, or life loses its meaning. It is a fact. And Beggar sometimes in his books talks about something like that. Later these ideas were taken by Hitler. Allegedly, putting forward Nietzsche as the ideologist of fascism. The idea of ​​the "superman" that pervaded all of Friedrich Nietzsche's later books was ideally suited to inspire vast masses of people to go to war. The ideas of F. Nietzsche were simply convenient for Hitler. The philosopher himself openly spoke during his lifetime with criticism of the then-nascent fascism. His philosophy was interpreted incorrectly, superficially. Too bad Nietzsche was no longer alive by this time.

About the superman.

“- I will teach you about the Superman. Man is something to be overcome. What did you do for this? All beings always create something higher than themselves. Do you want to be the ebb of this tide? What is a monkey in relation to a man - shame and miserable ugliness. Man in relation to the Superman is the same only shame and miserable ugliness. You have come a long way from a worm to a man, but you still have too much left of the worm. Once you were a monkey - see how much of a monkey you still have. Look, I'm teaching you about the superman! Superman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: let the superman be the meaning of the earth. Truly man is a dirty stream. You have to be the sea to take in a dirty stream and stay clean. Look, I teach you about the Superman - he is the sea in which your great contempt sinks. Not your sins, but your arrogance cries out to heaven: the insignificance of your sins cries out to heaven! But where is the lightning that will lick you with its tongue? Where is the madness that needs to be instilled in you? Look, I teach you about the superman: he is this lightning, he is this madness! this is stated on one of the first pages of F. Nietzsche's book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. In these words, F. Nietzsche briefly outlines the essence of his philosophy and the meaning of his destiny. It is Nietzsche who will be engaged in the preaching of his concept of the superman throughout the book. Reading the dialogues of Zarathustra, we constantly come across the idea of ​​a "superman". It is not for nothing that this book in Nietzsche's work is the forerunner of the famous book "Superman". Let us try to understand what Nietzsche put into his conception of the superman. Firstly, the “superman”, this being is completely immoral, not taking into account moral norms or limits with nicknames, a being filled with destroyed ideals from Nietzsche’s work “Human, all too human”. Morality is repugnant to Nietzsche because it alienates a person from the pure and super-rational rhythm of life, from the primary source of being - because it puts an “illusion” between a person and the world, calms spiritual anxiety, replaces the terrible and dangerous question “Who am I? Where I am?" hasty system of unpaid and ill-conceived responses. Morality is a sin against Life and Truth. She veils the Abyss, protecting the weak. This Nietzsche could recognize. But it encroaches on the freedom of higher people, on the race of masters, keeps in check the will to Truth inherent in the elite. All those false feelings and all those false behavior, deceptive ideas that F. Nietzsche, he invested all this from his “superman”, adding that there is no god, so the “superman” will become him. The main thing that should come from the superman is a call for spiritual transformations, internal discipline and education of one's own personality, responsible for the future. “God is dead! We killed him - you and me!”, says Nietzsche with the words “crazy” in his work “Merry Science”. A man takes the place of God, but not an ordinary one, like all of us, but a superman - the ideal of a man, devoid of many moral prohibitions and endowed with almost unlimited rights, something that each of the “ordinary” people should strive for. The superman is born, says Nietzsche, in order to create a new human community. The people united in it become "sowers of the future". They are disgusted by the morality of slaves, the oppressed, calling for philanthropy and compassion. They liberate themselves, for which they first of all need strength and audacity. Not a title of nobility, not a heavily stuffed purse of merchants, not service to a prince or some other ruler makes them an aristocracy, an elite, but greatness of spirit, purity and novelty of goals, determination to discard, like dilapidated, but still strong chains, all conventions, dogmas, prejudices of a civilization that has fallen into a deep crisis. Superhumans must create a race of masters - gods, a race that does not seek comfort and illusions. She seeks Truth and Power, she is interested in the abyss and oppresses and despises those who are arranged differently, that is, the race of slaves. The race of slaves, on the contrary, borrows life from outside, fences itself off with prescriptions, moral prohibitions and obligations, which, however, are not in a hurry to fulfill .... The race of slaves prefers kindness, gentleness, indulgence, comfort, security, satiety, culture - in short, everything that makes their existence closed to the evil and raging energies of an unreasonable, wild and terrible reality. Such "racism" has nothing to do with the vulgar nationalism that Nietzsche mercilessly ridiculed. The line between two races is not drawn by skin color, language, religion or nationality. This trait. associated with the structure of the soul. The inner "I" of a person obviously belongs to a certain caste, and this is most often fatal. Thus, life is human life, a person in this philosophy takes the main place, becomes the measure of all being. Man is considered not as a dispassionate theoretical being, but as subjectively interested in the goals and objectives of his activity, as the only being capable of moral evaluation. Morality in Nietzsche's philosophy is of paramount importance. The main idea of ​​Nietzsche's morality - voluntarism - the doctrine of the will as the fundamental principle of all things. Nietzsche borrowed this idea from A. Schopenhauer, whom he considered his teacher at the beginning of his journey.

Conclusion.

Zarathustra is not a superman, it is a "bridge" to the superman. Ordinary people are the raw material, the soil for growing the superman. The Superman is a new "cult of personality" that goes far beyond the "cult of personality" of ordinary people and forms the basis of Nietzsche's mythology, which is set out more fully in "Superman".

Dostoevsky showed people imbued with the idea of ​​"superman" in his novel "Demons". A terrible force places Kirillov from Dostoevsky's "Demons" in the yellow cell of voluntary suicide - if "God does not exist, then we are Gods," says Kirillov. Friedrich Nietzsche moves slowly and heavily towards this monstrous, unbearable thought. For a full-fledged Tradition, the phrase about “the death of God” meant absolutely nothing - there would be no blasphemy, no paradox, no sacrilege in it. God dies in Christianity too. It is God and precisely from compassion for people.

“In man, the creature and the creator are united: in man there is matter, incompleteness, excess, dust, evil spirits, nonsense, chaos; but there is also a creator, an artist in him, there is in him the hardness of a hammer, the divinity of the contemplator, the mood of the seventh day ... "

About the higher man

When I first came to people, I committed the greatest madness, the madness of a hermit: I went out into the marketplace.

And since I spoke to everyone, I did not address anyone in particular. And in the evening my comrades were the rope dancer and the dead man, and I myself was almost a corpse.

But with the onset of a new morning, a new truth dawned on me: then I learned to say: “What do I care about the market and the mob, the noise of the crowd and its long ears!”

Here's what you learn from me, you higher people: in the bazaar, no one believes in higher people. If you want to speak in front of them, well, speak! But the crowd blinks senselessly at you: “We are all equal!”.

“Hey, you higher people,” the mob says, blinking senselessly, “there are no higher ones, we are all equal, a person is a person, and before God we are all equal!”

Before God! But now that God is dead. And before the crowd, we do not want to be equal with everyone else. O higher people, leave the bazaar!

Before God! But now that God is dead! O superior people, this God has been your greatest danger.

Only since he lay down in the grave have you been resurrected. Only now comes the Great Noon, only now the higher man becomes master!

Do you understand this word, my brothers? Are you scared, your heart is spinning? Does not the abyss gape here for you? Is the hellhound barking at you?

Well! Take heart, high people! Now, for the first time, the mountain of the human future is rushing about in labor pains. God is dead: now we want the Superman to live.

The most caring ask today: "How can a man survive?" But Zarathustra, the first and only of all, asks: "How to overcome man?"

My heart draws me to the Superman, he is my first and only one, and not a man - not my neighbor and not poor, not suffering and not the best.

O my brethren, if there is anything I love in man, it is that he is a transition, a decline, and annihilation. And there is much in you that nourishes my love and hope.

I hope that you are filled with contempt. For those capable of the deepest contempt are also capable of great reverence.

It is worthy of great respect that you despaired. For you have not learned to submit, you have not learned petty prudence.

For today small people rule: they preach humility, modesty, diligence, prudence and other commandments of small virtue.

Everything that is of a womanish and slavish kind, and especially the hodgepodge of the crowd: it is precisely this that longs to be the master of human destiny - oh disgust! Disgust! Disgust!

They tirelessly ask: “What is the best, longest and most pleasant thing for a person to survive?”. And that is why they dominate today.

Overcome them, these masters of the present, these little people, O my brothers! It is they who are the greatest danger to the Superman!

O higher people! Overcome petty virtues, little prudence, petty prudence, ant fussiness, miserable complacency, "the happiness of the majority"!

And rather than obey, it is better to despair. And truly, I love you because you do not know how to live in the present, you higher people! Because that's how you live best!

Do you have courage, my brothers? Is there courage? Not the courage that has witnesses, but the courage of hermits and eagles, which no god sees?

Those who are from the breed of donkeys, as well as blind, drunken and those whose souls are cold, I will not call courageous. But those who, knowing fear, overcome it; who looks into the abyss, but looks with pride;

He who sees the abyss, but with the gaze of an eagle, who grabs it with eagle claws: this is who has courage.

“A man is angry,” all the wisest spoke to me as a consolation. Oh, if only it were so today! For evil is the best power in man.

“Man must become better and angrier,” is how I teach. For the best in the Superman, the most evil is necessary.

May it be good for the one who preached to the little people that he suffered for them and bore their sins. I rejoice in great sin as my great consolation.

However, this is not said for long ears. Not every word fits every snout. These are subtle, distant things: the sheep do not dare to trample them under their hooves!

Higher people, don't you think that I have come to correct the evil done by you?

Or arrange for you, the suffering, a comfortable lodging for the night? Or will you, wanderers who wander and go astray, be shown easy paths?

No! No! Three times no! It is necessary that more of you perish and that the best perish, for it must become worse and worse for you. The only way,

- only in this way does a person grow to the height where lightning strikes him, to a height high enough for lightning!

To the little, to the long, to the distant, my thought and longing strive: what do I care about your small, short, manifold poverty!

You suffer a little! For you suffer for yourself; you have not yet suffered for a person. You'd be lying if you claim otherwise! None of you have ever suffered for what I suffered.

It is not enough for me that lightning no longer harms: I do not want to turn it away: it must learn to work for me.

For a long time already, like a cloud, my wisdom has been thickening and becoming darker and quieter. This is what all wisdom does, which must one day give rise to lightning.

I do not want to be a light for the people of today, I do not want to be called light among them. I want to blind them! Lightning of my wisdom, burn out their eyes!

Desire nothing beyond your own strength: evil deceit is inherent in those who desire beyond their own strength.

Especially when they crave the great! For they arouse distrust of the great, these clever counterfeiters and comedians:

— until, finally, they become false to themselves, embellished with a wormhole, until they hide behind strong words, ostentatious virtues, brilliant fakes.

Be careful, high people! For there is nothing more precious and rarer for me than truthfulness.

Does not the present belong to the crowd? But the crowd does not know what is great, what is insignificant, what directness and truthfulness are: it innocently prevaricates and always lies.

Be now filled with good mistrust, O higher people, you brave ones! You pure-hearted! Keep your beliefs secret! For the real belongs to the mob.

What the mob once accepted on faith, without arguments and evidence, cannot be refuted by any arguments!

In the bazaar, people convince with gestures. While the arguments cause distrust among the crowd.

And when truth wins there, be filled with good distrust and ask yourself: “What is this powerful delusion that fought for it?”

Beware also scientists! They hate you because they are barren! They have cold and dry eyes, for them all the birds are already plucked.

Those like them boast that they do not lie, but the inability to lie is by no means the same as the love of truth. Beware of them!

Getting rid of fever is not knowledge! I don't trust frozen minds. He who does not know how to lie does not know what truth is.

If you want to get high, use your own legs! Do not let yourself be carried upstairs, do not sit on other people's backs and heads!

I see you got on a horse? And quickly rushing up to your goal? Well, go ahead, my friend! Just know that your lameness rides with you!

When you reach your goal and jump off your horse: O higher man, it is there, on your height, that you will stumble!

O creators, O higher people! Only for the sake of their own child undergo their own pregnancy.

Do not listen to anyone's stories, do not be fooled! For who is your neighbor? And if you started something “for your neighbor”, then you are still not creating for him!

Forget about this "for", you creators: for your virtue requires that you have nothing to do with all these "for", "for the sake of" and "because". Let not your ears listen to all these false words.

"For the neighbor" is the virtue of little people; they say: “Your unwitting brother” and “Hand washes his hand.” They have neither the power nor the right for your selfishness!

O creators, in your selfishness - the caution and foresight of a pregnant woman! Your love protects, nourishes and protects the fruit that no one has seen yet.

Where all your love is, there all your virtue is in the child! Your vocation, your will - this is your "neighbor": do not allow false values ​​to be imposed on yourself!

You are creative, higher people! Whoever is to give birth is sick; but whoever gives birth is unclean.

Ask women: they give birth not because it gives pleasure. Pain makes poets and chickens cackle.

There are many impure things in you, creative ones. So, you have to motherhood.

Newborn child: oh, how much new dirt comes into the world with it! Step aside! He who gave birth must wash his soul!

Don't be virtuous beyond your strength! And do not demand from yourself anything that is beyond the probable!

Avoid slavishly following your fathers in everything, but go along the trodden paths, along which their virtue has already walked! Otherwise, how can you rise higher if the will of your fathers does not rise with you?

But be careful who wants to be the first-born - lest he become the last! And where the vices of your fathers are manifested, there is no point in playing saints!

If your fathers spent their lives hunting boars, making parties and drinking parties in the company of women, would not your abstinence be foolish?

It will be insane! On the contrary, I believe that one of you who has one, or two, or only three wives, has achieved no little in comparison with his father.

And if you build monasteries and write on the gates: “The path to holiness,” I say: “To what? Isn't this new madness?

For yourself you founded a house of correction and a refuge - well, well! To health! I just don't believe it.

For in solitude the very thing that a man brings into him grows: the cattle that he carries within him also grows. Therefore, many should avoid solitude.

Has there ever been anything more filthy on earth than the hermits? Not only the devil was circling around them furiously, but also the pigs.

Often I saw how timid, ashamed, clumsy, like a tiger that failed to jump, you crept sideways, O higher people! For you have thrown the dice unsuccessfully.

Don't be upset about this! You have not yet learned to play and laugh at risk the way you should! Don't we always, one way or another, sit at a big gaming table, at which there is so much laughing?

And if you have not succeeded in something great, does this mean that you yourself have not succeeded? And if you yourself failed, does this mean that Man failed? But if the Man failed: well! Forward!

The more noble, the rarer. You higher people gathered here, haven't you all failed?

So be it - so what? Do not give up! How much more is possible! Learn to laugh at yourself, laugh the way you should!

There is nothing surprising in the fact that you failed or only half succeeded, you half-broken ones! Doesn't the human future beat and rush about in you?

All depth and distance, all the stellar heights and the monstrous strength of man: does not all this foam rise in your cauldron?

There is nothing surprising in the fact that many boilers break! Learn to laugh at yourself, to laugh properly! How much more is possible, O higher people!

And indeed, a lot of what has already been achieved! How rich the earth is in the perfection of small but beautiful things, which, indeed, have succeeded so well!

Surround yourself with this perfection, higher people! Its golden maturity heals the heart. Everything perfect teaches hope.

Which of the sins committed here on earth is still the most serious? Is it not the words of the one who said: "Woe to those who laugh!"

Has he found no reason on earth to laugh? So he was looking bad. Even a child finds them.

There was little love in him, otherwise he would have loved those who laugh! But he hated and reviled us, foreshadowing weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Should you immediately curse if you do not love? For me, this is bad taste. But that's exactly what he did, this intolerant one. He came out of black.

There was little love in him - otherwise he would not have been angry that they did not love him. All great love does not want love, it wants more.

Beware of such intolerant ones! This breed is sick and unfortunate, this is the mob; they look sourly at life, they look at the earth with an evil eye.

Beware of such intolerant ones! They have heavy legs and depressed hearts: they do not know how to dance. How can the earth be easy for them!

All good things follow crooked paths to their goal. They arch like cats, purring at the proximity of their happiness: all good things laugh.

Whether a person is already walking on his own path, is not it, this is betrayed by his gait: look how I walk! Well, and the one who approaches his goal, he dances!

And truly, I have not yet become a monument and have not become motionless, stupid, petrified, like a pillar: I love to run fast.

Although there are bogs and viscous sadness on earth, all the same, he who has light feet runs even through the silt and dances on it, as on cleared ice.

My brethren, raise your hearts ever higher! But don't forget your legs! Higher, like dashing dancers, raise your legs, and even better - stand on your head!

This crown of the laugher, the crown of roses, I myself put on myself and I myself sanctified my laughter. No one else I found strong enough for this.

Zarathustra is a dancer, Zarathustra is light, he flaps his wings and is ready to fly, he calls all the birds behind him, agile and blissfully light.

Zarathustra the prophet, Zarathustra, who speaks the truth with his laughter, patient, tolerant, in love with leaps and adventures, I myself laid this crown upon myself!

My brethren, raise your hearts ever higher! Don't forget the legs too! You are dashing dancers, so raise your legs higher, and even better - stand on your head!

There are animals that are ponderous even in their happiness; there are clumsy from birth. It is just as amusing to look at their attempts and efforts, as at an elephant that is trying to stand on its head.

But it is better to be mad with happiness than from failure, it is better to dance clumsily than to limp. Learn my wisdom: even the worst thing has a couple of good downsides,

- even the worst thing has legs strong enough to dance: learn, high people, to stand on your own feet!

Forget the tunes of sorrow, forget the despondency of the mob! Oh, how sad I now see all these buffoons who amuse the crowd! But everything now belongs to the crowd.

Be like the wind rushing out of the gorges: to the whistle of his pipe he is ready to dance, the seas tremble and rush about under his feet.

Praise be to that brave, indomitable spirit that gives wings to donkeys, milks lionesses, the spirit that comes like a hurricane to everything present and to every mob,

- a spirit that is hostile to the wise thistle, all withered leaves and tares: praise to this wild, cheerful, free spirit of the storm, which dances through bogs and despondency, as if through meadows!

Who hates the miserable mongrels of the common people and every offspring, unsuccessful and gloomy; Praise be to this spirit of free minds, this laughing storm that dusts the eyes of those who are covered with ulcers and see everything in black!

O higher people, this is your worst: you have not learned to dance the way you should, so that in the dance you go beyond your limits! What if you don't succeed!

How much more is possible! So learn to go beyond your limits in laughter! You dashing dancers, raise your hearts higher and higher! And don't forget to have a good laugh!

This wreath of laughers, this wreath of roses: I throw it to you, my brethren. Laughter I declared sacred: O higher people, learn to laugh!

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Supplement
(about the philosopher Nietzsche and his superhuman Zarathustra)

None of the founders of modern Western thought caused so much controversy and rumors as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). The Superman, the will to power, Reappraisal of values ​​(with the light hand of Nietzsche, this expression became a catchphrase), the assertion that "God is dead", the concept of the Eternal Return - almost everything from the ideological heritage of the philosopher was repeatedly subjected to the most diverse interpretations, often distorting the very essence his views.
Acquaintance with the philosophical poem "Zarathustra" will allow the reader to objectively and impartially evaluate the outstanding work of one of the most original thinkers.
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Copyright:

The philosophical treatise Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the most famous work of Friedrich Nietzsche. The book is known for its critique of conventional Christian morality. In his work, the author made a lot of theses that caused a lively discussion and fierce criticism. In some of its features, Thus Spoke Zarathustra resembles the Bible. This is a fusion of poetry, philosophical treatise and artistic prose, in which there are many images, metaphors and parables.

The idea of ​​a superman

Nietzsche's book is divided into four parts, each of which the author published separately. The writer was going to take on two more volumes, but did not have time to realize his idea. Each part contains several parables. It is about them that the summary tells. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" begins with the scene of Zarathustra's return to the people after many years of wandering. The main character is a prophet. His fix idea is to inform people about his own revelation.

The philosophy of the prophet is the semantic core on which the book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" rests. promoted by the protagonist, became the most popular and well-known theory of Nietzsche himself. The main message of the work is given already in the first scene, when Zarathustra descends from the mountains. On the way, he meets a hermit. This person confesses that he loves God, and this feeling gives him the strength to live. The scene is not random. After this meeting, the prophet goes on and wonders why the hermit does not yet know that God is dead. He denies many of the norms that are familiar to ordinary people. This idea conveys both the book itself and its summary. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is also a treatise on the place of man in nature and society.

Journey to the city

The wandering philosopher Zarathustra delivers his first sermon in the city when he stumbles upon a crowd gathered around a dancer on a tightrope. The traveler tells people about the superman, he convinces that the ordinary man is only a link in the chain of development from the monkey to the superman. In addition, Zarathustra publicly announces that God is dead and therefore people should stop believing in unearthly hopes and become faithful to the earth.

The stranger's speech amuses the crowd. She makes fun of the philosopher and continues to watch the performance. A brief summary cannot do without mentioning this scene. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" although it is a philosophical treatise, at the same time has all the signs of a novel with a developing plot and fictional characters. The scene in the city ends with the tightrope walker falling to the ground and dying. The wise man picks up his body and leaves the city in the company of the Serpent and the Eagle.

Philosophy of Zarathustra

Zarathustra has his own "Collection of speeches", consisting of 22 parables. It is they who reveal the main ideas that Friedrich Nietzsche is trying to convey to readers. Zarathustra despises the priests and teaches respect for the soldiers. He considers the state an "idol" and explains that only after its fall will the era of the new man come. The philosopher urges to avoid actors, jesters and fame. He criticizes the Christian postulate that evil must be repaid with good, considering such behavior as weakness.

Zarathustra tells most of his theses to passers-by and random companions. So, with one young man, he shares the idea that evil occupies a significant place in human nature, and only by overcoming it can he become a superman. Of all the theses of the prophet, one stands out in particular. It is the foundation of the faith described in the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The analysis shows that the most important part of the mythology of the philosopher is his prophecy about the coming of the Great Noon. This event will precede the transition of a person to a new stage of his development. When the Great Noon arrives, people will celebrate the decline of their former half-existence.

Quotes

In the second part of the book, after a short life in public, Zarathustra decides to shut himself up again in his cave, where he spends many more years. Returning from a long imprisonment, he again speaks to people with parables. Criticism of religion is one of the main messages of the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Quotations on this subject can be cited in great numbers. For example:

• "God is the thought that makes everything straight crooked and everything that stands, revolving."
• “I call all this teaching about the one, complete, immovable, well-fed and imperishable as an evil and hostile person!”
• “If there were gods, how could I resist not to be a god! Therefore, there are no gods."

The philosopher ridicules the equality of people. He believes that this concept is a fiction, invented to punish the strong and glorify the weak. Proceeding from this, the prophet calls to abandon compassion for the sake of creation. People are not supposed to be equal. Nietzsche repeats this thought several times on the pages of his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The chapter-by-chapter content shows how he consistently criticizes all the foundations and orders familiar to society.

A mockery of wisdom and culture

Through the mouth of Zarathustra, Nietzsche says that all the so-called wise men only serve the uneducated people and their superstitions, while hindering the truth. Its real bearers do not live in cities among the crowd, but in distant deserts, away from human fuss. Part of the truth is that all living things strive for power in one way or another. It is because of this pattern that the weak must obey the strong. Zarathustra considers the will to power a much more important human quality than the will to live.

Criticism of culture is another characteristic feature of the book Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Reviews of contemporaries show how they were squeamish about Nietzsche, who considered most of the human heritage only the result of the worship of an illusory fictional reality. For example, Zarathustra openly laughs at poets whom he calls too feminine and superficial.

Spirit of Gravity

In the third part of the philosophical novel, Zarathustra has new parables and images. He tells his few listeners about the Spirit of Gravity - a creature resembling either a dwarf or a mole, trying to make the sage lame. This demon tried to drag Zarathustra to the bottom, into the abyss full of doubts. And only at the cost of great efforts did the protagonist manage to escape.

The speaker explains to the audience that the Spirit of Gravity is given to every person from birth. Periodically, he reminds of himself in the form of the words "evil" and "good." Zarathustra denies these notions. He believes that there is no good or evil. There are only natural desires of every person, which should not be hidden under any circumstances.

Attitude to fate and vices

The book "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", the meaning of which is interpreted by philosophers and other researchers in different ways, offers the reader a new look at seemingly familiar things. For example, the main character refuses to talk about some kind of universal path - a universal way of salvation and a right life, which is discussed in all popular religious teachings. On the contrary, Zarathustra believes that each person has his own way, and each should form his attitude to morality in his own way.

The prophet explains any fate as a mere combination of accidents. He praises such traits as lust for power, voluptuousness and selfishness, considering them to be just healthy natural passions inherent in a strong soul in an exalted body. Predicting the next era of supermen, Zarathustra hopes that all these character traits will be inherent in a new type of man.

An ideal person

According to the ideas of Zarathustra, in order to become strong, it is enough to learn to be free from any external circumstances. Truly powerful people can afford to throw themselves into random situations all the time. Strength must be in everything. Men must always be ready for war, and women - for the birth of children.

One of the theses of Zarathustra speaks of the uselessness of society and any social contract. Trying to live together by some rules only prevents the strong from triumphing over the weak.

the last part

In the fourth volume, Nietzsche talks about the old age of Zarathustra. Having lived to an advanced age, he continues to believe in his sermons and live according to the main slogan of the superman, which says: "Be who you really are." One day the prophet hears a cry for help and leaves his cave. On the way, he meets many characters: the Soothsayer, the Conscientious Spirit, the Enchanter, the Ugliest Man, the Beggar and the Shadow.

Zarathustra invites them to his cave. Thus the philosophical novel approaches its end. The guests of the prophet listen to his sermons, which he has already told before throughout the entire book. In essence, this time he summarizes all his ideas in a generalized way, putting them into a coherent teaching. Further, Friedrich Nietzsche describes a supper (by analogy with the Gospel), where everyone eats lamb, praises the knowledge of Zarathustra and prays. The owner says that the Great Noon will come soon. In the morning he leaves his cave. This concludes the book itself and its summary. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is a novel that could have been continued if Nietzsche had had time to realize his creative plan to the end.

Painting "Sunset, Mont Blanc" Wenzel Hablik (Wenzel Hablik)

Very briefly: Telling people parables and stories of moral and philosophical content, the wandering philosopher preaches the doctrine of the Superman, but the world is indifferent to the speeches of the sage.

The novel consists of four parts, each of which contains parables on various moral and philosophical topics. According to the style, the poetic-rhythmic prose of the work is referred to the genre of "philosophical poem".

Part one

Zarathustra returns to the people after ten years of loneliness in the mountains to bring the message of the Superman.

Descending from the mountains, he meets a hermit who speaks of love for God. Continuing on his way, Zarathustra is perplexed: “Is it possible?! This holy elder in his forest has not yet heard that God is dead!”

In the city, the sage sees a crowd that has gathered to stare at the rope dancer. Zarathustra tells people about the Superman: he calls on people to be "loyal to the earth" and not to believe in "unearthly hopes" because "God is dead". The crowd laughs at Zarathustra and watches the performance of the Rope Dancer. As a result of the intrigues of Pagliac, the tightrope walker falls and dies. Having picked up the corpse of the deceased, the sage leaves the city. He is accompanied by the Eagle and the Snake.

In his "Speeches", consisting of twenty-two parables, Zarathustra laughs at the false morality and foundations of mankind.

The sage begins with a story about "three transformations of the spirit": first, the spirit is a Camel, which turns into a Lion, and the Lion becomes a Child. The spirit is loaded, but he wants to gain freedom and, like a lion, become a master. But the Lion cannot become the Spirit-Creator without the Child - the "sacred affirmation" of the spirit.

Many paradoxical aspirations in life and different types of people are discussed by Zarathustra:

He condemns the godlike - they desire "doubt to be a sin". They despise the "healthy body - strong and perfect." The philosopher curses the priests - these preachers of death, who must disappear "from the face of the earth."

Zarathustra teaches to respect warriors - they "overcome the man in themselves", not wanting a long life.

He speaks of “a thousand and one goals”, when the good of one people is considered evil by another people, because “humanity has no goal yet.”

The wise man is talking about the "new idol" that people worship - about the state. The death of this myth signifies the beginning of a new man.

He advises to avoid fame, clowns and actors, because far from this "inventors of new values ​​\u200b\u200bhave always lived."

Zarathustra calls it stupidity when they respond with good to Evil - this is a humiliation for the enemy, and "a little revenge is more humane than the absence of revenge."

Marriage he calls "the will of two to create a single, greater than those who created it", and he calls truly chaste those who are indulgent and cheerful.

The sage also speaks of love for "those who create in solitude" - they are able to "create beyond themselves."

Zarathustra tells a young man about the evil nature of a person who is like a tree and “the more persistently he strives upwards, towards the light, the more forcefully his roots rush deep into the earth, downwards, into darkness - into evil.”

The sage mentions the nature of a woman - the key to her is pregnancy, and the rule for dealing with her is one: “Are you going to women? Don't forget the whip!"

Zarathustra condemns people who "being in miserable self-satisfaction", wallowed in these "virtues". A person on the way to the Superman must keep a “hero in his soul”, be faithful to the earth, find himself and “desire with one will”, denying any other faith.

The "Speeches" end with a prophecy about the coming of the "Great Midday", when on the way from the animal to the Superman, man "celebrates the beginning of his sunset."

"All the gods have died: now we want the Superman to live" - ​​this, according to Zarathustra, should be the motto of mankind.

Part two

Zarathustra retires to his cave. Years later, the sage again decides to go to people with new parables.

He again speaks of the rejection of religion, because "it is a thought that makes everything straight crooked." The existence of gods kills any creation and creation. Away from gods and priests who die in fire for false ideas.

The true virtue for a person is the Self, which "manifests itself in every act." One must love creation more than compassion, since compassion cannot create anything.

Zarathustra reveals the lie of the concept of "equality" - this myth is used to avenge and punish the strong, despite the fact that people are not equal and "they should not be equal!"

All the "illustrious sages", like donkeys, served "the people and popular superstition, and not the truth." But the real sages live in the desert, not in the cities. Therefore, a real sage avoids the crowd and does not drink from its "poisoned springs."

Zarathustra teaches about the “will to power”, which he saw “everywhere where there was life” and which encourages the weak to submit to the strong: “Only where there is life, there is also will: but not the will to live - the will to power! This is how I teach you." It is the “will to power” that makes a person strong and sublime, like a column - “the higher it is, the more tender and beautiful, while inside it is harder and more enduring.”

He speaks of a "culture" that is dead and comes from an illusory reality. The scientists of this dead reality pretend to be sages, but their truths are worthless. Zarathustra calls for “spotless” and pure knowledge, “so that everything deep rises to my height!”

He laughs at the poets for their "eternal femininity" - they are too "superficial and not clean enough: they muddy the water to make it seem deeper."

All great events, says Zarathustra, must revolve "not around those who invent new noise, but around the inventors of new values." Only the “will to power” can destroy compassion and bring the Great to life.

Zarathustra teaches his listeners three human wisdoms: to allow oneself to be deceived, “so as not to beware of deceivers”, to spare the conceited more than others, and not to allow “because of your cowardice, the sight of the evil ones becomes disgusting to me.”

In deep sadness, he leaves his uncomprehending listeners.

Part three

Zarathustra is on his way again. He tells his fellow travelers about his meeting with the Spirit of Gravity - “he was sitting on me, half mole, half dwarf; lame, he tried to make me lame too.” This Dwarf saddled the sage, trying to drag him into the abyss of doubt. Only courage saves the philosopher.

Zarathustra warns that the Spirit of Gravity is given to us from birth in the form of the words "good" and "evil". This enemy who says "good for all, evil for all" is defeated only by "who says: here is my good and my evil." There is neither good nor bad - there is "my taste, which I do not need to be ashamed of or hide."

There is no universal way that can be shown to everyone - there is only an individual choice of everyone in matters of morality.

“Shouldn't it be like this: everything that can happen has already passed along this path? Shouldn’t it be like this: everything that can happen has already happened once, happened and passed? - asks Zarathustra, affirming the idea of ​​the Eternal Return. He is sure: “everything that can happen on this long way forward must happen again!”

The sage says that all life is determined by "the most ancient aristocracy of the world" - Chance. And the one who seeks happiness never finds it, because "happiness is a woman."

Returning to his cave through the cities, Zarathustra again speaks of moderate virtue, which is combined with comfort. People crushed and revered "what makes modest and tame: so they turned the wolf into a dog, and people into the best pet of man."

The sage is saddened by the deafness of people to the truth and says that “where you can no longer love, you need to pass by!”

He continues to mock the "old, jealous, malicious" prophets who speak of monotheism: "Isn't divinity also in that there are gods, but there is no God?"

Zarathustra praises voluptuousness, lust for power and selfishness. These are healthy passions, beating "with a key from a strong soul, connected to an exalted body" and they will be characteristic of the "new aristocracy". These new people will destroy the "old tables" of morality, replacing them with new ones. "Undaunted courage, long distrust, cruel denial, satiety, cutting life" - this is what, according to Zarathustra, characterizes the new elite and gives birth to truth.

In order to be strong, one must have a "broad soul", which is free from external circumstances and "throws itself into everything Accidental". This soul has a thirst for will, wisdom and love, "in which all things find striving and confrontation."

Only those who want to overcome themselves have the "will to power" and a broad soul will be saved. The weak and the falling must be pushed and taught to "fall faster!" calls Zarathustra.

The best should strive for dominance in all areas of life. A man must be "capable of war", and a woman - for childbearing. “You are concluding a marriage: see that it does not become a conclusion for you!” the philosopher warns.

Zarathustra denies the "social contract", because society "is an attempt, it is a long search for the one who commands."

He sings of "everything evil in man", because "everything bad and evil is the best power and a solid stone in the hand of the highest of creators."

After these sermons, the beasts call Zarathustra "the teacher of the Eternal Return."

Part four and last

Zarathustra grew old and "his hair turned grey."

He continues to believe in the "thousand-year kingdom of Zarathustra" and adheres to the main slogan of the Superman - "Be who you are!"

One day he hears a cry for help and goes to look for a "higher man" who is in trouble. He comes across various characters - a gloomy Soothsayer, two Kings with a donkey, a conscientious spirit, an old Wizard, the last Pope, the Ugliest Man, a Volunteer Beggar and a Shadow. They all tell Zarathustra their stories and want to find the "higher man". The sage sends them to his cave and continues on his way.

Tired, Zarathustra returns to the cave and sees there all the travelers he met during the day. Among them are the Eagle and the Snake. The sage gives a sermon on the signs of a "higher man", summarizing all the ideas that were said in the earlier sermons.

After that, he arranges a "supper" where everyone drinks wine, eats lambs and praises the wisdom of Zarathustra. All guests, including the donkey, pray.

The sage calls his guests "recovering" and sings of the coming of the "Great Noon".

In the morning Zarathustra leaves his cave.