How Do We Surpass Ourselves?

Nietzsche's Most Famous Book Provides a Solution: Part 1

Western civilization is noticed by many people to be in a state of decline for a multitude of reasons. I’m sure a lot of you are like me, you’ve been looking for a solution to this problem. Well, fortunately there is a way out of this seemingly perpetual state of building a brilliant civilization, becoming complacent and content, societal decline, and ending with a collapse.

The great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s most famous book, “Thus Spake Zarathustra,” provides us with a solution. We must surpass and overcome ourselves is Nietzsche’s conclusion as to how we can move forward as mankind, especially in the Western world. Nietzsche wrote this book between the years 1883 to 1885. This time period was the start of the peak for the German and Western Industrialization and a greater increase of wealth and standard of living. Yet, Nietzsche was so brilliant and ahead of his time, he foresaw that the causes and symptoms of collapse in Germany and the Western world were already solidified.

The “DEATH OF GOD,” NIHILSIM, EQUALITY FOR ALL

One of the main problems Nietzsche highlighted was that atheism and the “Death of God” had consequences, both positive and negative. The positive consequences of the decline of Christianity that Nietzsche realized was that we Westerners can determine for ourselves what we value and what is moral or immoral to ourselves, and that we would no longer be tied to some supposed idea of an objective “good and evil.” The negative consequences that he realized was that almost everyone needs a sense of meaning in a world that appears random and meaningless. Religion, in this case being Christianity, supplies us with a meaning and explanation for all the suffering, hardships, and events in the world. With a decline in religion, he realized and feared that most people will fall into a state of nihilism. Nihilism is defined as all knowledge, action, ethics, morality, and life itself is meaningless and devoid of value (World of Ideas, 1999).

There are numerous examples of how we see nihilism around us in the West and the rest of the world today. People feeling hopeless about the future, suicidal, on antidepressants, decline in civilization and standards of living, and deaths of despair (Science News, 2020) are just some of the effects that can be associated with nihilism. While these effects are noticeable all around us, at the same time church attendance in the Western world had been declining over the years (The Guardian, 2023).

Also, Nietzsche discussed the harmful consequences of equality and equal rights for all. He realized that treating everyone the same as though they were equal to all would have dire consequences in the future. Equality would lower standards for everyone, because people who would normally excel and standout are reduced down to the lowest common denominator. There would also be resentfulness and envy towards the people who are excellent by people who are average or below average. This attitude of the envy and equality for all would inevitably produce a lower standard of living for individuals and society as a whole.

There are numerous other faults and follies that humans exude and exhibit that must be overcome according to Nietzsche in “Thus Spake Zarathustra.” However, there are too many to list them all in this one article. That is why I’ve only highlighted a few here.

NIETZSCHE’S SOLUTION

Nietzsche thankfully did not simply state the causes and symptoms of a civilization in decline and lacking meaning. Nietzsche provided a solution, “ man is something to be surpassed, I teach you the Superman (Thus Spake Zarathustra, 1883).” Nietzsche discussed this idea in the Prologue of the book. The Superman, Ubermench in German, is that which evolves past humanity according to Nietzsche. Humanity has been stuck in a perpetual state of a lack of evolvement. To move forward with our existence, we must surpass our pettiness, complacency, and values which only serve to hold us back. “Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman- a rope over the abyss (Thus Spake Zarathustra, 1883).”

The proceeding chapters of the book describe through discourses ways in which humans can become Supermen. The book is a philosophic fictional book, and Nietzsche explains his main philosophical thoughts through a fictional story. Zarathustra is the main character and is like a prophet who descends from a mountain onto a town. As the story progresses, Zarathustra gains a following of disciples by travelling from town to town, and he teaches them about the Superman. The disciples can also be anyone who is reading the book, because the lessons can be applied to anyone in their daily lives.

ACTION PLAN:

Moving forward I am providing a brief summary of the discourses. I will also provide an analysis of how Nietzsche’s discourses from Thus Spake Zarathustra can be applied by anyone. I will also provide my own personal stories of how Nietzsche’s Superman teachings impacted my own life. The articles will be numbered by each chapter from the book and may not be in chronological order. Also, this book is too broad and immense with ideas to only have this one article as a summary. I will also publish further articles analyzing and summarizing this book as a whole as well.

REFERENCES:

Nietzsche, Friedrich (1883). Thus Spake Zarathustra, pg. 6. Wordsworth Editions Limited.

Rohmann, Chris (1999). A World of Ideas, pg. 281. The Random House Publishing Group.

Science News (2020). “Deaths of despair” are rising. It’s time to define despair. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/deaths-of-despair-depression-mental-health-covid-19-pandemic

The Guardian (2020). Losing Their Religion: why US churches are on the decline. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/22/us-churches-closing-religion-covid-christianity