Nietzschean Thirst

“Those known as ‘the rabble,’ whom Zarathustra describes as fit only to be slaves, ultimately dwell within every human soul. It is that lowly thing in each of us which must be pitilessly overcome.”

Nietzsche, we need you more than ever. On second thought, we don’t really need you per se, we most of all need your thirst. But what is this water that Nietzsche pants for, what is this one spring that will relieve his parched lips? It is that spring called greatness. Hear the word and tremble, or else you do not really know what he is getting at. Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra has the capacity to rejuvenate society. His writing is exceedingly hot to the touch, but maybe we could use a bit of fire. What kind of man creates a work like this? But more importantly: what kind of human does its author call us to be?

“Man is something that should be overcome.”1 Through the mouth of Zarathustra, Nietzsche proclaims his love for not ‘man’ but ‘Superman.’ Not passive mediocrity, but creative transcendence. “I will make company with creators, with harvesters, with rejoicers: I will show them the rainbow and the stairway to the Superman.”2 Who will listen? “I wish modern youth to remember and to love Nietzsche and the way of Zarathustra.”3 His message is not for ‘man’ but ‘Superman,’ or even simpler: not half-man, but man—for after all, the fully realized man is himself the Super-man.

Nietzsche’s work is only naively interpreted in a literal sense. The Superman is not a distinct class between men, but a distinct class within men (it “cuts through the heart of every human being”).4 Nietzsche’s ‘aristocratic’ sensibilities allow him to know the difference between higher and lower, better and worse, figure and ground: the qualitative. Those known as “the rabble,” whom Zarathustra describes as fit only to be slaves, ultimately dwell within every human soul. It is that lowly thing in each of us which must be pitilessly overcome. “Man is something that should be overcome.”