Nietzsche

There Are No Educators

Candle Leave a comment

As a thinker, one should only think of self-education.  The education of youth by others is either an experiment, conducted on one yet unknown and unknowable, or a leveling on principle, to make the new character, whatever it may be, conform to the habits and cutoms that prevail: in both cases, therefore, something unworthy of the thinker – the work of parents and teachers, whom an audaciously honest person has called nos ennemis naturels.

One day, when in the opinion of the world one has long been educated, one discovers onself: that is where the task of the thinker begins; now the time has come to invoke his aid – not as an educator but as one who has educated himself and thus has experience.

Friedrich Nietzsche
from The Wanderer And His Shadow

Advertisement

Sanity

Candle Leave a comment
Insanity’s Crescendo
by: raimundogiffuni

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule.”

from: Beyond Good And Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche

Sometimes I look out into the world, observing all there is to see & experience.  I often wonder, does sanity even truly exist?  Or is it simply an illusion manifesting out of a psychologist’s hopes?

The Will To Power…

Candle 1 Comment

1 Nietzsche, Friedrich - Portrait, 1860 - GIF

“To be comprehended: That every kind of decay and sickness has continually
helped to form overall value judgments;
that decadence has actually gained
predominance in the value judgments
that have become accepted; that we not
only have to fight against the
consequences of all present misery of
degeneration, but that all previous
decadence is still residual, i. e.,
survives. Such a total aberration of
mankind from its basic instincts, such a
total decadence of value judgments–that is the question mark par
excellence, the real riddle that the
animal “man” poses for the
philosopher.”

From The Will To Power

Friedrich Nietzsche

It is a rather interesting occurrence that I find myself a Nietzschian Nihilist. After all, Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for proclaiming that “God is dead.” He was always quick to point out the problems he had with spirituality. Yet I find, as someone who is a deeply spiritual person, that his atheist and anti-spiritualist philosophy adds a great depth to my own mysticism. Is this a paradox? Or a misunderstanding of Nietzschian philosophy on my part? Perhaps…

Yet, if we put aside this difference in philosophy, there is much to learn from the 19th century’s most misunderstood philosopher. The two central themes of his philosophy are The Will To Power & the idea of the Übermensche (usually translated as “Superman” or “Overman”). Through the Will to Power, Individuals can push themselves above the mediocrity of the normal human existence & live a life of greatness – a life better connected to nature & the universe that surrounds us all. This better life of greater connectedness is what Nietzsche termed the Übermensche.

There is a great selection of Nietzsche’s works on the internet. One place to start is The Internet Archive which houses the Internet’s greatest collection of free media in the hopes of offering “Universal access to all knowledge.” It’s a great resource for any type of research you might undertake. And if you have your own Will to Power, you might use it to help you in becoming an Übermensche!

Leave me a comment below & let me know your thoughts on this topic – or any other that happens to be on your mind.