Thus Spoke Zarathustra is one of the most important philosophical texts of all time. It presents the speeches the eponymous main character gives; these are characterized by being complex musings on life and thought. One of the most important of these is “On Self-Overcoming”, presented in the second part of this book. In it, Zarathustra addresses the wisest, a group probably conformed of philosophers and religious hierarchs. In it, he inquires about the nature of truth, power and being. He muses about what truth is, how it is created and the effects it can have on the population. This leads him to discuss the relation between truth and power, and why people submit themselves to others. Furthermore, he wonders what being is, and if things stay the same or change across time. His main argument is that the will-to-truth is just another form of the will-to-power, as it establishes a hegemonic truth, even though it should actually be ever-changing.
For Zarathustra, the wisest have artificially imposed the will-to-truth on the people, leading them to believe in the absolute truth and morality that these figures manifest. Some people, especially philosophers and religious men, have tried to impose the will-to-truth on people. “You want to make all being thinkable, for you doubt with well-founded suspicion that it is already thinkable” (Nietzsche 225). He argues that they have tried to put everything into the domain of ideas, thought and morality, establishing by themselves what is true and what is not. Zarathustra decries that then they have made people also think they want this, fooling them into thinking that what they express is the only truth and morality, like a group on a boat in the middle of the river, being carried across. Thus, he interprets the will-to-truth as an artificial imposition by the educated on the people in order to dominate them.
In this sense, the principal character in the book believes that the will-to-truth is not the correct interpretation of what drives man to live, but the will-to-power. Zarathustra finds that the essence of life is obedience, commandment and the role of power. He finds three important points in the living: “Whatever lives, obeys [], he who cannot obey himself is commanding [ and] commanding is harder than obeying” (Nietzsche 226). He finds this to be the orientation that guides the living, the intent to be masters. Zarathustra claims to have spoken to life itself, who stated that “I am that which must always overcome itself” (Nietzsche 227). He finds different expressions of this, like the will to reproduce or to transcend; nevertheless, he believes that they are all different manifestations of the same, primordial will.
Finally, Zarathustra explains that the reason why the will-to-truth can never accomplish its goal is that its end is constantly changing, even though philosophers and religious people would like to find it absolute. For him, even basic moral precepts, such as good and evil, are transitory. This is due to the will-to-power being the main force: it leads for things to always look to overcome themselves. Zarathustra narrates that life told him “‘Whatever I create and however much I love it—soon I must opposite it and my love” (Nietzsche 227). The natural tendency is change and overcoming; nevertheless, the will-to-truth cannot recognize this, as it does not listen, but can only command. It cannot obey because it establishes an absolute that does not respect the ever-changing aspects of nature. Will, as an orientation, needs to necessarily go beyond itself, in accordance with the power structure that is at play. However, by setting a fixed end, the will-to-truth cannot go beyond itself; it cannot create, and only wills existence out of that which already exists. Therefore, the perpetual modification that characterizes nature means that the will-to-truth has an illusory objective, and that the will-to-power is at its heart, as it is in the whole of life.
In conclusion, in this speech Zarathustra reveals the true nature of philosophy and religion as an attempt to establish a single, absolute truth to dominate over the population. Under the guise of the will-to-truth, the learned have imposed absolutes on the people, including morality. However, this is only a way for them to dominate over the less-educated, revealing the underlying power play. The most important drive in life is power, as everything that lives intends to be a master. This is even true of things that are created themselves, as they too look to overcome themselves, no matter how loved they are. Thus, the will-to-truth cannot accomplish its illusory aim, because the absolute does not exist; it does not listen, only trying to command, making it impossible for it to overcome itself. Therefore, it is important to be aware of this power play, as it is influential even when one least expects it. Classes can dominate in any way, even though education, which people usually think of as something invariably positive. However, it is just another area where a particular group can establish hegemony.
Works Cited
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhem. The Portable Nietzsche. Ed. & Trans. Walter Kauffman. Kinsport: Penguin, 1953. PDF file.
