Kaufmann's Zarathustra - eleventh reading: On War And Warriors

Friedrich Nietzsche, trans. Walter Kaufmann - Thus Spoke Zarathustra: On War And Warriors

I literally summoned an eagle with this reading, no joke! Heil Odin!!

Also heil to Robert the Bruce! An acclaimed Scottish warrior ancestor who was fighting the colonial English scum a century before contact with Turtle Island. Fuck tyranny! Fuck imperialism! Selfdetermination and selfrule forever!

This is perhaps one of the most odd aphorism in the first book of Zarathustra, because Nietzsche seems to advocate against some ideas he usually propounds: free thinking individualism and selfdirection free from resentment- and yes, for Nietzsche the kshatriya class should disavow uniformity and retain their individual flare- especially in their specific choice of enemy! But they should also embrace obedience and submit to the "thou shalt" of the more cognitively acute class of thinkers above them.

This is a great instance- and there will be many more throughout this book, where Nietzsche makes it clear that there is no specific frame or formula for what the Ubermensch shall or should look like. What overcoming and ascending towards the future ideal specifically requires for an individual entails an account of their specific disposition and situation. There is no singular image of the Ubermesnch- it is an avenue, not an end point.

#Nietzsche #Zarathustra #philosophy #warrior