This is the end.

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"Between bursts of mayhem resembling The Chariot and the blissfully catchy choruses of Mastodons prog-metal output, The Nietzsche have always thrown surprises into their music, and have had a wildly creative presence online too. The passion for the project is rare to see, only making the wild variety of emotions on Finals. clearer and more enjoyable. Manic and searing one minute, vocalist Eugene Tymchyk and his band drop the heartfelt tunes too. Just, hidden among the blasts and general bad-assery." Heavy Blog Is Heavy (www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2018/09/26/the-nietzsche-say-their-final-good-byes)

"Aleksey Elanskiy's thoughtful, melodic approach to writing heavy riffs continues to impress, achieving with one guitar what often takes two or more. I think the production on the record benefits everyone in the band in different ways, but the guitars seriously sound phenomenal." Sputnikmusic (www.sputnikmusic.com/review/77848/The-Nietzsche-Finals.)

"Their new record takes us into the wilderness of their own mixture of styles and just like their pioneers landmark works, it pushes the boundaries of musical forms and perfects the fierce, yet very smartly crafted intensity of their unique style." Idioteq (idioteq.com/10-things-that-inspired-the-final-ep-from-mathcore-metalcore-wizards-the-nietzsche)

"One all too often overlooked aspect in all genres of music is the bass. The prevalence and power of the bass on Finals. is almost disorienting and distracting. There is a specific riff on Shake your Spear where everything but the bass subsides, while Dmitry Ulyanov, wizard that he is, thumps out a riveting and wild solo that steals the spotlight for the rest of that song." Riff Relevant (www.riffrelevant.com/2018/10/21/the-nietzsche-finals-review-stream)

"This band really needs more recognition for doing what they're doing and the work they've put in. The Nietzsche continue to push themselves further and further with every EP. Yet again my only issue is that I'm left wanting more. At this point we've gotten three EPs but I would really like to see what they can do with the breathing room of a full length. Hopefully in the future we'll get something but for now I'll take what I can get, Finals. doesn't feel like settling, more like a sampling of what's to come." Metalloud (www.media-dissection.com/metalloud/the-nietzsche-finals-album-review)

"Sumburial Finals. repels and attracts at the same time. Its changeable mood and short timing in about 15 minutes causes a strange feeling of understatement, and makes me look for some hidden, possibly even non-existent philosophical underpinnings in the tracks. At the same time, the album gets you with its expressiveness, carefully polished sound quality and virtuosity of unpredictable bass parts." Noizr (noizr.com/news/reviews/the-nietzsches-last-chord-review-of-ep-finals./:2245)

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The Nietzsche

Nietzsche is the philosopher of the will to power, seen as vital creation and fulfillment. What is essential is our world as it is joy and desire for power. As for the illusion of ulterior worlds, Nietzsche stalking in all its forms.

Nietzsche diagnosed the essence of the mortal crisis of our time: he described it, in its main features, and an almost clinical manner.

He made a study at different levels and in so doing has often announced with great precision which only sketched in the late nineteenth century.

This deadly disease of modern times, ours is the nihilism, reign of the absurd, of Nothing (nihil, as we pointed out the etymology).

Nihilism or no sense

The future is so aimless and all traditional ideals lose their value.

But what is the core of this Nothing and how does it spring?

The phenomenon of nihilism is fundamentally marked by the death of God, the most important recent event.

The sun of the Christian faith has to lie. The darkness is now the lot of our world.

The Divine, the supersensible, left us: we killed Nietzsche tells us sometimes.

The death of the Christian God, if it is, perhaps, the sign and the announcement of a new dawn, is marked in our time, by the coming of the Last Man, completion of nihilism.

The Last Man means what is most contemptible in this world: those who are powerless to create and to love, the individual totally enslaved and enjoying a happiness programmed and petty.

It bounces well on the surface of the earth.

In truth, nihilism completes the metaphysics and concludes there is an immediate consequence.

In the crisis of our time (even within the nihilistic disease), we find, in fact, errors of metaphysics.

Nihilism is the sign of Nothing, pure Nothingness

It means the unveiling of nothingness, conceived as hidden foundation of our world.

However, the examination, we discover the origins of this crisis within the metaphysical project:

Metaphysics, defined as the type of research and approach the truth lying beyond phenomenal appearances in a other world devalued because of this, our universe.

The phenomenon is sensitive then reduced to a mere appearance, an envelope surface, it slides towards nothingness and reality and identifies the supersensible.

Therefore, metaphysics must be overcome: she was born, in fact, suffering from the man and his weariness of life.

The individual, in his grief, has invented another world, stable, permanent place of truth. The object of study of metaphysics is the Being, in and of itself, essentially the same through the changes.

But this is a metaphysical being fiction. It only responds to the need for stability of those that Nietzsche christened the hallucinated the back-world: those that pose an ideal universe, beyond the empirical appearances and our phenomenal world.

In the eyes of Nietzsche, what matters is, on the contrary, our world as vital fullness.

Traditional moral values suffer, too, the hammer of the Nietzschean critique. Nietzsche is here, very hard on Christianity.

Resentment is to say the feeling of resentment and bitterness felt by those who are unable to create a positive, gave birth to moral values, good and evil.

Pain and bitterness are the source of morality, as they are the source of metaphysics.

Those who can create and say something really positive (slaves) to avenge their existential helplessness by making it the negative value of their lives.

Thus was born the Christian ascetic morality, the work of slaves.

For the active nihilism, destroying traditional values to enter new values, by immorality, by placing doctrine is beyond good and evil, we can hope to find the way of the creative life and the Will to Power.

Will to Power: that much overused phrase, a term which proliferate major contradiction or sophistry.

Do not designate it simply the will or appetite for power, the spirit of domination or competition?

This would include the design or a very restrictive or destructive domination of a thrust to various aspects: a set of impulses essentially competitive (in the poor), but also very movement of creative transcendence (in the noble soul of the aristocrat a concept taken from Nietzsche, in his essentially spiritual significance that is to say the best!).

It can mean struggle for life, but also existential spiritual wholeness and abundance.

The Will to Power is an ambiguous term, an ambivalent notion that one can not reduce its forms and manifestations superficial or trivial.

In its most noble, it is a strength plastic and creative.

To fully grasp its essence, the human body to be taken as a guide, because the body is wisdom and reason, define it as intelligent dynamic, organic faculty to understand and to think, think the whole organism and it is possible to speak of a mind unconscious body.

Following Schopenhauer, Nietzsche rehabilitates the Unconscious, conceived as psychic reality beyond the entry clear and transparent self.

Consciousness is less rich than the body, which provides, in its wisdom, a starting point and a guide: it puts us in a position to understand the Will to Power, this destructive and creative life force, that life in perpetual growth .

The Will to Power authentic as affirmation and fulfillment, unveils, within its creative glut, the real scope of life and transcendence. Among the creations of life figure, primarily, the Art, where it should not be misunderstood.

Any identifies a tradition, indeed, the Art with works of art and the fine arts.

Nietzsche, quite the contrary, creates art in a much more comprehensive and dynamic.

Against the art works of art confined to a specific area, bounded and limited, art becomes, in Nietzsche, an invention of harmonious forms, production for beautification of all existence.

It obscures the ugliness, it humanizes or concealing anything that is ugly.

Do not confuse the Arts and Fine Arts.

All materials and signs created by an artist and exhibiting an ideal of beauty does not designate an appendix to this production of what forms of art in general, the intoxication of life, the will to exist through harmonious forms.

The scope of the creative life involves artistic activity, the authentic work and, in general, everything concerning the building of positive values.

Thus, the real work, formatting things, related to joy and pleasure, he differs profoundly from the miserable toil for gain.

For the powers of life relate the authentic moral values, those that create the best, the masters, lying in the lifeblood of the Will to Power.

Thinking of Nietzsche is aristocratic, in the etymological sense of the word.

At vile herd opposes the beautiful creative individuality.

This spiritual opposition between the aristocrat and flock commanded a number of concepts of Nietzsche.

Thus, the aristocratic morality (this creative act, this triumphant affirmation of values, an assertion that is in joy) Is a thousand miles from the slave morality, resentment begets related negative values.

The criterion of authenticity is always linked with Nietzsche, to the affirmation and the creative power of life.

From this perspective, affirmation of the creative power of life, he must understand the symbol of Dionysus, which takes place in such a Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy (1871), until the Will Power (posthumous fragments).

Dionysus is in fact a symbol of life, be as full of life.

God of drunkenness among the Greeks, he plays in Nietzsches thought, the creation and destruction to become like incessant Dionysus is sensuality, enjoyment of power generating and destroying.

The word Dionysian expresses this participation (unleashed) aware of exuberant life.

As for the Dionysia, it means the identification with the principle of ecstasy and life.

Instead, Apollo, god of the measure and limit the Greeks, refers, in Nietzsche, anything that is sharp, clear, distinct, limited.

At outburst Dionysian oppose the serenity Apollonian Apolline, designed as contemplation of a world of imagination and dream.

By pushing back the reaction force, a simple denial, those related to no, with excess to those of life and creation, man transcends himself towards the Superman, to a higher human type, free-spirited and heart.

The man, indeed, is it the end of evolution? he has not completed its route and calls the beautiful creative individuality.

The superhuman is the meaning of the earth, the next term of evolution.

Again, it should avoid any misunderstanding: the superman of Nietzsche was sadly caricatured, but it has nothing to do with the blond beast of Germanic myth.

The philosophy of Nietzsche and organized around a few key concepts: that of Superman, and the Dionysian, of course, Will to Power.

Let us add, finally, that of Eternal Recurrence (any state of the universe back periodically).

Nietzsche, and (as Lucretius and Spinoza) drew a philosophy of joy, creativity and wholeness vital.

He celebrated life and stressed that the secret of the greatest enjoyment is to live dangerously and intensely.

The Birth of Tragedy (1871)

Human, Too Human (1878)

The Wanderer and His Shadow (1880)

Aurora (1880-1881)

The gay science (1881-1882)

Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1882-1885)

Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

The Genealogy of Morals (1887)

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Nietzsche Philosophy Summary

Our latest collection of Friedrich Nietzsche quotes on Everyday Power Blog.

Friedrich Nietzsche wasa German philosopher, essayist, and cultural critic whose writings had a major influence on Western philosophy and intellectual history. His body of work covered a wide variety of topics, including religion, history, arts, culture, science, and philology.

Born on October 15, 1844, Nietzschebegan his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. In his works, he attempted tounmask the motives that underlie traditional Western religion, morality, and philosophy. His ideas hada profound impact on generations of philosophers, psychologists, poets, theologians, playwrights, and novelists.

Most of Nietzsches life was plagued by health problems and he suffered a complete loss of his mental faculties in1889 at age 44. He died in 1900.

Although his name was later invoked by fascists to advance their ownGerman nationalist ideologies, Nietzsche was opposed to antisemitism and nationalism.

Below are some thought-provoking Friedrich Nietzsche quotes that will inspire you to think like the greats and tap into your Everyday Power.

1.) It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages. Friedrich Nietzsche

2.) To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. Friedrich Nietzsche

3.) We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving. Friedrich Nietzsche

4.) Love is blind; friendship closes its eyes. Friedrich Nietzsche

5.) A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cure a person in love. Friedrich Nietzsche

6.) The demand to be loved is the greatest of all arrogant presumptions. Friedrich Nietzsche

7.) Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil. Friedrich Nietzsche

8.) Art is the proper task of life. Friedrich Nietzsche

9.) I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible. Friedrich Nietzsche

10.) Life is that which must overcome itself again and again. Friedrich Nietzsche

11.) And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh. Friedrich Nietzsche

12.) How little it takes to make us happy! The sound of a bagpipe. Without music life would be a mistake. The German even imagines God as singing songs. Friedrich Nietzsche

13.) In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play. Friedrich Nietzsche

14.) The most common lie is that which one lies to himself; lying to others is relatively an exception. Friedrich Nietzsche

15.) What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal. Friedrich Nietzsche

16.) The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. Friedrich Nietzsche

17.) Underneath this reality in which we live and have our being, another and altogether different reality lies concealed. Friedrich Nietzsche

18.) People are always angry at anyone who chooses very individual standards for his life; because of the extraordinary treatment which that man grants to himself, they feel degraded, like ordinary beings. Friedrich Nietzsche

19.) Im not upset that you lied to me, Im upset that from now on I cant believe you. Friedrich Nietzsche

20.) It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them! Friedrich Nietzsche

21.) . . . It seems to me that a human being with the very best of intentions can do immeasurable harm, if he is immodest enough to wish to profit those whose spirit and will are concealed from him. . . . Friedrich Nietzsche

22.) That which does not kill us makes us stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche

23.) All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking. Friedrich Nietzsche

24.) You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star. Friedrich Nietzsche

25.) In heaven, all the interesting people are missing. Friedrich Nietzsche

26.) The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. Friedrich Nietzsche

27.) When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago. Friedrich Nietzsche

28.) Every deep thinker is more afraid of being understood than of being misunderstood. Friedrich Nietzsche

29.) One ought to hold on to ones heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too. Friedrich Nietzsche

30.) A matter that becomes clear ceases to concern us. Friedrich Nietzsche

31.) Here the ways of men divide. If you wish to strive for peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire. Friedrich Nietzsche

32.) Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings always darker, emptier and simpler. Friedrich Nietzsche

33.) Be careful, lest in casting out your demon you exorcise the best thing in you. Friedrich Nietzsche

34.) One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil. Friedrich Nietzsche

35.) The higher we soar, the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly. Friedrich Nietzsche

36.) One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art. Friedrich Nietzsche

37.) He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary. Friedrich Nietzsche

38.) A thought comes when it will, not when I will. Friedrich Nietzsche

39.) A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies. Friedrich Nietzsche

40.) There will always be rocks in the road ahead of us. They will be stumbling blocks or stepping stones; it all depends on how you use them. Friedrich Nietzsche

41.) No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone. Friedrich Nietzsche

42.) You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. Friedrich Nietzsche

43.) A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends. Friedrich Nietzsche

44.) A thought, even a possibility, can shatter and transform us. Friedrich Nietzsche

45.) There are no facts, only interpretations. Friedrich Nietzsche

46.) If you know the why, you can live any how. Friedrich Nietzsche

47.) The author must keep his mouth shut when his work starts to speak. Friedrich Nietzsche

48.) There is an old illusion. It is called good and evil. Friedrich Nietzsche

49.) In the mountains of truth, you never climb in vain. Friedrich Nietzsche

50.) Anyone who has declared someone else to be an idiot, a bad apple, is annoyed when it turns out in the end that he isnt. Friedrich Neitzsche

Although most of Friendrich Nietzsches life was plagued by health problems, he managed to leave a lasting impact on generations of philosophers, novelists, and psychologists.

His words can help us reflect on our past and present lives, as well as the person we want to be in the future.

Hopefully, theseFriedrich Nietzsche quotes have inspired you to think differently about life and love.

Did you enjoy these Friedrich Nietzsche quotes? Which of the quotes was your favorite? Tell us in the comment section below. We would love to hear al about it.

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50 Friedrich Nietzsche Quotes on Life and Love (Updated 2019)

"God is Dead" (German: Gott ist tot(helpinfo); also known as the Death of God) is a widely quoted statement by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche used the phrase in a figurative sense, to express the idea that the Enlightenment had "killed" the possibility of belief in God or any gods having ever existed. Others, such as proponents of the strongest form of the Death of God theology have used the phrase in a literal sense, meaning that the Christian God who existed at one point, has ceased to exist.

The phrase first appeared in Nietzsche's 1882 collection The Gay Science (Die frhliche Wissenschaft, also translated as "The Joyful Pursuit of Knowledge and Understanding").[1] However, it is most famously associated with Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Also sprach Zarathustra), which is most responsible for making the phrase popular. Other philosophers had previously discussed the concept, including Philipp Mainlnder and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

Discourses of a "death of God" in German culture appear as early as the 17th century and originally referred to Lutheran theories of atonement. The phrase "God is dead" appears in the hymn "Ein Trauriger Grabgesang" ("A mournful dirge") by Johann von Rist. Contemporary historians believe that 19th-century German idealist philosophers, especially those associated with Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, are responsible for removing the specifically Christian resonance of the phrase and associating it with secular philosophical and sociological theories.[2]

Although the statement and its meaning are attributed to Nietzsche, Hegel had discussed the concept of the death of God, in his Phenomenology of Spirit where he considers the death of God to "Not be seen as anything but an easily recognized part of the usual Christian cycle of redemption".[3] Later on Hegel writes about the great pain of knowing that God is dead "The pure concept, however, or infinity, as the abyss of nothingness in which all being sinks, must characterize the infinite pain, which previously was only in culture historically and as the feeling on which rests modern religion, the feeling that God Himself is dead, (the feeling which was uttered by Pascal, though only empirically, in his saying: Nature is such that it marks everywhere, both in and outside of man, a lost God), purely as a phase, but also as no more than just a phase, of the highest idea."[4]

Hegel's student Richard Rothe, in his 1837 theological text Die Anfnge der christlichen Kirche und ihrer Verfassung, appears to be one of the first philosophers to associate the idea of a death of God with the sociological theory of secularization.[5]

Before Nietzsche, the concept was popularized in philosophy by the German philosopher Philipp Mainlnder.[6]

It was while reading Mainlnder, that Nietzsche explicitly writes to have parted ways with Schopenhauer.[7] In Mainlnders more than 200 pages long criticism of Schopenhauers metaphysics, he argues against one cosmic unity behind the world, and champions a real multiplicity of wills struggling with each other for existence. Yet, the interconnection and the unitary movement of the world, which are the reasons that lead philosophers to pantheism, are undeniable.[8] They do indeed lead to a unity, but this may not be at the expense of a unity in the world that undermines the empirical reality of the world. It is therefore declared to be dead.

Now we have the right to give this being the well-known name that always designates what no power of imagination, no flight of the boldest fantasy, no intently devout heart, no abstract thinking however profound, no enraptured and transported spirit has ever attained: God. But this basic unity is of the past; it no longer is. It has, by changing its being, totally and completely shattered itself. God has died and his death was the life of the world. [Note 1]

Mainlnder, Die Philosophie der Erlsung

The idea is stated in "The Madman" as follows:

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?

But the best known passage is at the end of part 2 of Zarathustra's Prolog, where after beginning his allegorical journey Zarathustra encounters an aged ascetic who expresses misanthropy and love of God:

When Zarathustra heard these words, he saluted the saint and said "What should I have to give you! But let me go quickly that I take nothing from you!" And thus they parted from one another, the old man and Zarathustra, laughing as two boys laugh.

But when Zarathustra was alone, he spoke thus to his heart: "Could it be possible! This old saint has not heard in his forest that God is dead!"

Nietzsche used the phrase to sum up the effect and consequence that the Age of Enlightenment had had on the centrality of the concept of God within Western European civilization, which had been essentially Christian in character since the later Roman Empire. The Enlightenment had brought about the triumph of scientific rationality over sacred revelation; the rise of philosophical materialism and Naturalism that to all intents and purposes had dispensed with the belief in or role of God in human affairs and the destiny of the world.

Nietzsche recognized the crisis that this "Death of God" represented for existing moral assumptions in Europe as they existed within the context of traditional Christian belief. "When one gives up the Christian faith, one pulls the right to Christian morality out from under one's feet. This morality is by no means self-evident... By breaking one main concept out of Christianity, the faith in God, one breaks the whole: nothing necessary remains in one's hands."[12] This is why in "The Madman", a passage which primarily addresses nontheists (especially atheists), the problem is to retain any system of values in the absence of a divine order.

The Enlightenment's conclusion of the "Death of God" gave rise to the proposition that humans - and Western Civilization as a whole - could no longer believe in a divinely ordained moral order. This death of God will lead, Nietzsche said, not only to the rejection of a belief of cosmic or physical order but also to a rejection of absolute values themselves to the rejection of belief in an objective and universal moral law, binding upon all individuals. In this manner, the loss of an absolute basis for morality leads to nihilism. This nihilism is that for which Nietzsche worked to find a solution by re-evaluating the foundations of human values.[citation needed]

Nietzsche believed that the majority of people did not recognize this death out of the deepest-seated fear or angst. Therefore, when the death did begin to become widely acknowledged, people would despair and nihilism would become rampant.

Martin Heidegger understood this part of Nietzsche's philosophy by looking at it as death of metaphysics. In his view, Nietzsche's words can only be understood as referring not to a particular theological or anthropological view but rather to the end of philosophy itself. Philosophy has, in Heidegger's words, reached its maximum potential as metaphysics and Nietzsche's words warn of its demise and that of any metaphysical world view. If metaphysics is dead, Heidegger warns, that is because from its inception that was its fate.[13]

Paul Tillich as well as Richard Schacht were influenced by the writings of Nietzsche and especially of his phrase "God is dead."[14]

William Hamilton wrote the following about Nietzsche's view:

For the most part Altizer prefers mystical to ethical language in solving the problem of the death of God, or, as he puts it, in mapping out the way from the profane to the sacred. This combination of Kierkegaard and Eliade makes rather rough reading, but his position at the end is a relatively simple one. Here is an important summary statement of his views: If theology must now accept a dialectical vocation, it must learn the full meaning of Yes-saying and No-saying; it must sense the possibility of a Yes which can become a No, and of a No which can become a Yes; in short, it must look forward to a dialectical coincidentia oppositorum. Let theology rejoice that faith is once again a "scandal," and not simply a moral scandal, an offense to mans pride and righteousness, but, far more deeply, an ontological scandal; for eschatological faith is directed against the deepest reality of what we know as history and the cosmos. Through Nietzsches vision of Eternal Recurrence we can sense the ecstatic liberation that can be occasioned by the collapse of the transcendence of Being, by the death of God ... and, from Nietzsches portrait of Jesus, theology must learn of the power of an eschatological faith that can liberate the believer from what to the contemporary sensibility is the inescapable reality of history. But liberation must finally be effected by affirmation. ... ( See "Theology and the Death of God," in this volume, pp. 95-111.[15]

Nietzsche believed there could be positive possibilities for humans without God. Relinquishing the belief in God opens the way for human creative abilities to fully develop. The Christian God, he wrote, would no longer stand in the way, so human beings might stop turning their eyes toward a supernatural realm and begin to acknowledge the value of this world.

Nietzsche uses the metaphor of an open sea, which can be both exhilarating and terrifying. The people who eventually learn to create their lives anew will represent a new stage in human existence, the bermensch i.e. the personal archetype who, through the conquest of their own nihilism, themselves become a sort of mythical hero. The "death of God" is the motivation for Nietzsche's last (uncompleted) philosophical project, the "revaluation of all values".

Although Nietzsche puts the statement "God is Dead" into the mouth of a "madman"[16] in The Gay Science, he also uses the phrase in his own voice in sections 108 and 343 of the same book. In the madman's passage, the man is described as running through a marketplace shouting, "I seek God! I seek God!" He arouses some amusement; no one takes him seriously. Maybe he took an ocean voyage? Lost his way like a little child? Maybe he's afraid of us (non-believers) and is hiding? much laughter. Frustrated, the madman smashes his lantern on the ground, crying out that "God is dead, and we have killed him, you and I!" "But I have come too soon," he immediately realizes, as his detractors of a minute before stare in astonishment: people cannot yet see that they have killed God. He goes on to say:

This prodigious event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the most distant stars and yet they have done it themselves.

trans. Walter Kaufmann, The Gay Science, sect. 125

Earlier in the book (section 108), Nietzsche wrote "God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we we still have to vanquish his shadow, too." The protagonist in Thus Spoke Zarathustra also speaks the words, commenting to himself after visiting a hermit who, every day, sings songs and lives to glorify his god as noted above.

What is more, Zarathustra later refers not only to the death of God, but states: "Dead are all the Gods". It is not just one morality that has died, but all of them, to be replaced by the life of the bermensch, the new man:

'DEAD ARE ALL THE GODS: NOW DO WE DESIRE THE OVERMAN TO LIVE.'

The cover of the April 8, 1966 edition of Time and the accompanying article concerned a movement in American theology that arose in the 1960s known as the "death of God". Although theologians since Nietzsche had occasionally used the phrase "God is dead" to reflect increasing unbelief in God, the concept rose to prominence in the late 1950s and 1960s, before waning again.[17] The main proponents of this theology included the Christian theologians Gabriel Vahanian, Paul van Buren, William Hamilton, John Robinson, Thomas J. J. Altizer and John D. Caputo, and the rabbi Richard L. Rubenstein.

Read more:
God is dead - Wikipedia

The mouth may lie, alright, but the face it makes nonetheless tells the truth.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, classical scholar, critic of culture. Friedrich Nietzsche, Smtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe, vol. 5, p. 101, eds. Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari, Berlin, de Gruyter (1980). Beyond Good and Evil, "Fourth Part: Maxims and Interludes," section 166 (1886).

We do not hate as long as we still attach a lesser value, but only when we attach an equal or a greater value.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, classical scholar, critic of culture. Friedrich Nietzsche, Smtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe, vol. 5, p. 102, eds. Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari, Berlin, de Gruyter (1980). Beyond Good and Evil, "Fourth Part: Maxims and Interludes," section 173 (1886).

He who seeks intelligence lacks intelligence.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, classical scholar, critic of culture. Friedrich Nietzsche, Smtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe, vol. 2, p. 329, eds. Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari, Berlin, de Gruyter (1980). Human, All-Too-Human, "Man Alone With Himself," aphorism 547, "The 'Intellectuals'," (1878). The German word Geist which is translated as "intelligence" here might just as appropriately be translated as "spirit," "mind," "genius," or "wit." An alternative translation:M"He who tries to be witty is lacking in wit."

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Friedrich Nietzsche Poems - Poem Hunter - Quotes - Poetry

Nietzsche believed that the central task of philosophy was to teach us to 'become who we are'. You can find out more about him and other great thinkers in our 'Great Thinkers' book. For gifts and more from The School of Life, visit our online shop: https://goo.gl/YvzneeDownload our App: https://goo.gl/vZDLqp

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The challenge begins with how to pronounce his name. The first bit should sound like Knee, the second like cher: Knee cher.Friedrich Nietzsche was born in 1844 in a quiet village in the eastern part of Germany, where for generations his forefathers had been pastors. He did exceptionally well at school and university; and so excelled at ancient Greek (a very prestigious subject, at the time) that he was made a professor at the University of Basel when still only in his mid-twenties

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PHILOSOPHY - Nietzsche

The Nihilism of Contemporary Europe

While most of his contemporaries looked on the late nineteenthcentury with unbridled optimism, confident in the progress of science andthe rise of the German state, Nietzsche saw his age facing a fundamentalcrisis in values. With the rise of science, the Christian worldviewno longer held a prominent explanatory role in peoples lives, aview Nietzsche captures in the phrase God is dead. However, sciencedoes not introduce a new set of values to replace the Christianvalues it displaces. Nietzsche rightly foresaw that people needto identify some source of meaning and value in their lives, and ifthey could not find it in science, they would turn to aggressive nationalismand other such salves. The last thing Nietzsche would have wantedwas a return to traditional Christianity, however. Instead, he soughtto find a way out of nihilism through the creative and willful affirmationof life.

On one level, the will to power is a psychological insight:our fundamental drive is for power as realized in independence anddominance. This will is stronger than the will to survive, as martyrs willinglydie for a cause if they feel that associating themselves with thatcause gives them greater power, and it is stronger than the will tosex, as monks willingly renounce sex for the sake of a greater cause.While the will to power can manifest itself through violence andphysical dominance, Nietzsche is more interested in the sublimatedwill to power, where people turn their will to power inward andpursue self-mastery rather than mastery over others. An Indian mystic,for instance, who submits himself to all sorts of physical deprivationgains profound self-control and spiritual depth, representing amore refined form of power than the power gained by the conqueringbarbarian.

On a deeper level, the will to power explains the fundamental, changingaspect of reality. According to Nietzsche, everything is in flux,and there is no such thing as fixed being. Matter is always movingand changing, as are ideas, knowledge, truth, and everything else.The will to power is the fundamental engine of this change. For Nietzsche,the universe is primarily made up not of facts or things but ratherof wills. The idea of the human soul or ego is just a grammaticalfiction, according to Nietzsche. What we call I is really a chaoticjumble of competing wills, constantly struggling to overcome oneanother. Because change is a fundamental aspect of life, Nietzscheconsiders any point of view that takes reality to be fixed and objective,be it religious, scientific, or philosophical, as life denying.A truly life-affirming philosophy embraces change and recognizesin the will to power that change is the only constant in the world.

Nietzsche is critical of the very idea of objective truth.That we should think there is only one right way of consideringa matter is only evidence that we have become inflexible in ourthinking. Such intellectual inflexibility is a symptom of sayingno to life, a condition that Nietzsche abhors. A healthy mindis flexible and recognizes that there are many different ways ofconsidering a matter. There is no single truth but rather many.

At this point, interpreters of Nietzsche differ. Someargue that Nietzsche believes there is such a thing as truth butthat there is no single correct perspective on it. Just as we cannotget the full picture of what an elephant is like simply by lookingat its leg or looking at its tail or looking at its trunk, we cannotget a reasonable picture of any truth unless we look at it frommultiple perspectives. Others, particularly those who value Nietzschesearly essay On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, argue thatNietzsche believes the very idea of truth to be a lie. Truth isnot an elephant that we must look at from multiple perspectivesunder this view. Rather, truth is simply the name given to the pointof view of the people who have the power to enforce their pointof view. The only reality is the will to power, and truth, likemorality, is just another fig leaf placed on top of this reality.

Throughout his work, particularly in The Antichrist, Nietzsche writesscathingly about Christianity, arguing that it is fundamentallyopposed to life. In Christian morality, Nietzsche sees an attemptto deny all those characteristics that he associates with healthylife. The concept of sin makes us ashamed of our instincts and oursexuality, the concept of faith discourages our curiosity and naturalskepticism, and the concept of pity encourages us to value and cherishweakness. Furthermore, Christian morality is based on the promiseof an afterlife, leading Christians to devalue this life in favorof the beyond. Nietzsche argues that Christianity springs from resentmentfor life and those who enjoy it, and it seeks to overthrow healthand strength with its life-denying ethic. As such, Nietzsche considersChristianity to be the hated enemy of life.

As the title of one of his books suggests, Nietzsche seeksto find a place beyond good and evil. One of Nietzsches fundamental achievementsis to expose the psychological underpinnings of morality. He showsthat our values are not themselves fixed and objective but ratherexpress a certain attitude toward life. For example, he argues thatChristian morality is fundamentally resentful and life denying,devaluing natural human instincts and promoting weakness and theidea of an afterlife, the importance of which supercedes that ofour present life. Nietzsches aim is not so much to replace Christianmorality with another morality. Rather, he aims to expose the veryconcept of morality as being a fig leaf placed on top of our fundamentalpsychological drives to make them seem more staid and respectable.By exposing morality as a fiction, Nietzsche wants to encourageus to be more honest about our drives and our motives and more realisticin the attitude we take toward life. Such honesty and realism, hecontends, would cause a fundamental revaluation of all values.Without morality, we would become an entirely different speciesof being, and a healthier species of being at that.

Nietzsche contends that humanity is a transition, nota destination. We ceased to be animals when we taught ourselvesto control our instincts for the sake of greater gains. By learningto resist some of our natural impulses, we have been able to forgecivilizations, develop knowledge, and deepen ourselves spiritually.Rather than directing our will to power outward to dominate thosearound us, we have directed it inward and gained self-mastery. However,this struggle for self-mastery is arduous, and humanity is constantly temptedto give up. Christian morality and contemporary nihilism are justtwo examples of worldviews that express the desire to give up onlife. We come to see life as blameworthy or meaningless as a wayof easing ourselves out of the struggle for self-mastery. Nietzschesconcept of the overman is the destination toward which we startedheading when we first reined in our animal instincts. The overmanhas the self-mastery that animals lack but also the untrammeledinstincts and good conscience that humans lack. The overman is profoundlyin love with life, finding nothing in it to complain about, noteven the constant suffering and struggle to which he willingly submitshimself.

While it is hard to give a definitive account of the eternalrecurrence, we can undoubtedly claim that it involves a supremeaffirmation of life. On one level, it expresses the view that timeis cyclical and that we will live every moment of our lives overand over an infinite number of times, each time exactly the same.In other words, each passing moment is not fleeting but rather echoesfor all eternity. Nietzsches ideal is to be able to embrace theeternal recurrence and live in affirmation of this idea. In otherwords, we should aim to live conscious of the fact that each momentwill be repeated infinitely, and we should feel only supreme joyat the prospect.

On another level, the doctrine of the eternal recurrenceinvolves Nietzsches distinctive metaphysical notions. Nietzschecontends that there is no such thing as being: everything is alwayschanging, always in a state of becoming. Because nothing is fixed,there are no things that we can distinguish and set apart fromother things. All of reality is intertwined, such that we cannotpass judgment on one aspect of reality without passing judgmenton all of reality. In other words, we cannot feel regret for oneaspect of our lives and joy for another because these two aspectsof our lives cannot properly be distinguished from one another.In recognizing that all of life is one indistinguishable swirl ofbecoming, we are faced with the simple choice of saying yes toall life or no to all life. Naturally, Nietzschecontends that the yes-saying attitude is preferable.

Read more:
SparkNotes: Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900): Themes, Arguments, and Ideas

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nietzsche | eBay

The Nietzscheans are a subspecies of genetically engineered humans who religiously follow the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Social Darwinism, and Dawkinsian genetic competitiveness. They claim to be physically perfect and are distinguished by bone blades protruding outwards from the wrist area and their physical appearance. The race's trinomial taxonomic name is Homo sapiens invictus, which means "Unconquerable Wise Man" in the ancient Earth language Latin. Although Nietzsche frequently wrote about the bermensch, Nietzscheans take offense at usage of the word "ber" which is used as a derogatory term to describe them. The term is usually used by Humans.

Nietzschean Tyr Anasazi and Fleet Marshall Ataturk in the background.

All Nietzschean prides originated from Pride Musevini.

The headstone to Drago Musevini's crypt

The Nietzschean subspecies originated at Ayn Rand Station. In CY 8400, Dr. Paul Museveni, a human geneticist, left Earth and headed out to deep space with about 3,000 followers. Dr. Museveni's views were not considered proper, and thus he was shut out of mainstream scientific society. Four months later, the Museveni Fleet arrived in the Omari Globular cluster just outside the Milky Way Galaxy. A habitable world was found orbiting the Beta Sirrius Omega star, Museveni and his followers named this planet Fountainhead and declared it the home world of the new Nietzschean sub-race. Ayn Rand Station was built in orbit around Fountainhead in CY 8402. The station was constructed by converting one of the ships from Museveni's origin fleet. Rand station would later become the political capital of the new Nietzschean Alliance. The settlements on Fountainhead continued to grow. The people willingly embraced the philosophy of Dr. Museveni, which was based on elements of Nietzsche, Rand, Darwin, and Dawkins.

Drago Museveni, the clone/son of Dr. Paul Museveni, was born in CY 8403 (It is revealed later in the series that Drago had actually time traveled to the future to obtain the DNA of Beka Valentine in order to further enhance the Nietzschean race). Drago's children were the first true Nietzscheans born, the result of genetic modifications. Because of his influence, the first Pride was formed: Pride Museveni. Drago had a philosophy all future Nietzscheans would come to emulate (most of which was taught by Rhade). Due to the modifications of their genetic codes, they developed 3 bone spikes called "bone blades" on each forearm.

Within four years, nearly 4,000 more Nietzschean children were born. These children were the first members of Homo sapiens invictus, and they were the first generation of Drago Museveni's genetic manipulations.

In CY 8422, Paul Museveni died under mysterious circumstances due to a rare type of arsenic poisoning. His son Drago, at age 19, took the mantle of leadership of the Nietzschean people. It was suspected by some that Drago had removed his father, but it was never proven. In CY 8423, the second pride in Nietzschean society, the Drago-Kazov Pride, was formed after Drago broke ties with Pride Museveni and formed an alliance with the Kazov clan. A year later, the Kodiak, Jaguar, and finally, the Three Rivers prides were formed.

Drago Museveni died of natural causes in CY 8456. Rheged Mossadim of the Three Rivers Pride was chosen as the new leader. 31 years later in CY 8487, the Nietzscheans decided to spread out, establishing Zarathustra, their first colony, in 3576 and Enga's Redoubt followed near the end of the year. Midden was established in CY 8505 and then Dawkinstown and Victoria in 3585. Barbarossa and Hawking followed roughly a year after that. Kagame's World was established in CY 8520 and Cestus Mortialis in CY 8525. The Nietzscheans established the colony of Enkindu in the year CY 8534. Four years later, the newly formed Nietzschean Alliance established the Bedford Forest Colony. The last of the Nietzschean Colonies was established at Hephaistos IV in CY 8542.

The Nietzschean Alliance continued to govern themselves. The strongest and most able of their men became the leaders, the new Alphas of the Nietzschean culture who compete in combat to determine the next ruler of the Nietzschean Alliance.

Formal first contact with the Systems Commonwealth was made in CY 8544. A quick, but cautious, alliance formed; the Nietzscheans were happy to find their long-lost human cousins returned to them. However they did not join the Commonwealth, preferring to keep their independence. They became loose allies instead, sharing culture, technology, and other interests. Eventually, in CY 8553, the Nietzscheans formally joined the Systems Commonwealth.

With their gospel of gene-based survivalism and self-improvement, the Nietzscheans quickly spread throughout known space, reproducing rapidly until by the 52nd century, they constituted 8 percent of the overall human population (and 2 percent of the overall Commonwealth population).

For centuries Nietzscheans lived as loyal Commonwealth citizens, obeying its institutions, serving in its military and energetically contributing to its welfare, until they decided to destroy it.

Nietzschean discontent with the Commonwealth had been growing for decades, with many viewing it as a decadent and insufficiently challenging environment for a people as energetic as Homo sapiens invictus. But this simmering unhappiness rose to a boil after the Magog invasion of 9766 and what many Nietzscheans regarded as an insufficiently aggressive Commonwealth response. Long a frontier-dwelling people, many Nietzschean worlds found themselves along the front lines of Magog/Commonwealth confrontation, and suffered greatly from Magog attacks. Dawkinstown, Hawking, and Kagame's World, were only a few of the Nietzschean planets and settlements terrorized by the Magog.

Talk of Nietzschean secession from the Commonwealth began in earnest during this period, with the leading Drago-Kazov Pride beating the drum for a full-scale insurrection. But many Nietzscheans opposed such a course of action, until the Treaty of Antares. This peace treaty signed with the Magog in 9781 was viewed by the vast majority of Nietzscheans as the ultimate betrayal of the losses they had suffered and the burdens they had borne in the fight against this implacable foe. The negotiators who made peace with the Magog may not have realized it at the time, but in the course of taming one enemy, they created a far more dangerous one in its place.

With the majority of Nietzscheans now backing a full-scale assault against the Commonwealth, preparation for the attack began in earnest. Nietzschean-owned shipping firms went on a ship buying and building spree, choosing vessels which could easily be converted from harmless civilian transports into lethal military vessels. Passenger liners became troop ships, cargo vessels became cruisers and destroyers, and couriers were converted into stealthy attack fighters.

Similarly, the Home Guard units on Nietzschean worlds were beefed up with new personnel and equipment, and even in the elite High Guard Argosy and Lancer Corps, Nietzschean officers and crew made plans to betray their ships and units and turn them over to the enemy. In secret, a vast armada of 10,000 vessels was assembled in the Hephaistos system, with smaller strike groups positioned throughout Commonwealth space, ready to pounce on unsuspecting High Guard bases and Commonwealth seats of power when the signal to strike was given.

At Hephaistos System, a rogue black hole allowed the insurrectionists to send distress signals to a large number of High Guard starships, summoning them into a trap where they could be picked off one by one. In CY 9784, over 200 top-of-the-line vessels were destroyed in this fashion, until the captain and crew of the heavy cruiser Andromeda Ascendant managed to draw off the fleet's fire long enough for much of the crew to escape and reach Slipstream. Their veil of secrecy about to be broken, the Nietzscheans struck, and struck hard. Their intent was to overthrow the Systems Commonwealth and replace it with a Nietzschean-dominated empire.

In the opening days of the war, the attackers inflicted devastating losses on the High Guard fleet and ground forces. Despite the Commonwealth's overwhelming military superiority, defeat appeared swift and certain, with the Nietzscheans already planning to establish a post-Commonwealth Nietzschean Empire.

But rather than roll over and accept defeat after these initial losses, the Commonwealth regrouped and fought back fiercely. Interestingly enough, some of the High Guard's few victories were actually achieved by Nietzschean commanders, for a sizeable minority of Nietzscheans (including Dylan Hunts friend Ismael Khalid) remained loyal to the Commonwealth and fought bravely to preserve its ideals.

A war that was supposed to end in weeks lasted over two years, and rather than resulting in a Nietzschean triumph, ended in the two sides' mutual annihilation. The last battle of the Commonwealth Civil War was fought in CY 9786 at the Witchhead Nebula when High Guard ships were ambushed by a sizable Nietzschean fleet. The two fleets destroyed each other almost completely. The Nietzscheans would've won, had a mysterious ship known as the Angel of Death not appeared (eventually revealed to be the Andromeda Ascendant briefly thrust back in time through a slipstream mishap). It led the Nietzschean fleet on a chase, then detonated the nebula, taking out at least 2/3 (66.667%) of the fleet. Shortly afterward, the Magog crossed the Quarantine Zone in strength and numbers never imagined. Swarm Ship fleets roamed all of known space, indiscriminately attacking Nietzschean and former Commonwealth worlds alike. With no central political authority remaining and reliable interstellar communications only a memory, individual worlds were left to fend for themselves.

Weakened by the war to overthrow the Commonwealth, the ruling Nietzschean Drago-Kazov Pride was betrayed and attacked by Pride Jaguar in CY 9787. The Nietzschean Alliance was shattered, and instead of replacing the Commonwealth with a Nietzschean empire, chaos reigned instead. Fountainhead was rendered uninhabitable in the Battle of Fountainhead from either a Pride Jaguar attack or a final act of vengeance from a remaining High Guard starship.

The remains of Nietzschean Progenitor Drago Museveni were recovered and entrusted to Kodiak Pride, one of the Drago-Kazov Pride's allies. More than two hundred years later, in CY 10021, the still-powerful Drago-Kazov Pride betrayed the Kodiak Pride and seized the remains of the Progenitor from them. Kodiak Pride was exterminated, and the Progenitor's remains were relocated to Enga's Redoubt, the Drago-Kazov homeworld.

As instigators of the civil war that ultimately destroyed the Commonwealth, Nietzscheans aren't the most popular denizens of the current post-Fall landscape. The war itself proved devastating to the Nietzschean people, with untold billions killed in battle fighting on both sides. Many Nietzschean Alliance planets were on the front line of hostilities and suffered greatly in the war, while Nietzschean populations on many Commonwealth worlds were subjected to internment and mob attacks. The inter-clan wars and general strife that began with Pride Jaguar's betrayal of the Drago-Kazov and continue to this day have proved even more pernicious to the long-term health and survival of the Nietzschean people. Dozens of once-powerful prides, such as Atreus, Kodiak, Al-Sharif, Three Rivers, and Banyamulenge, have been all but exterminated by other Nietzscheans, while still others have fallen prey to Magog, Than, or other hostile powers. Meanwhile, those prides which remain powerful, such as Drago-Kazov, Sabra, and Jaguar, spend much of their time defending territory from each other or putting down revolts by restless subjects. Despite this they remain a dominant power in the post Commonwealth era. Others, who have remained loyal to the Commonwealth, joined a number of humans lead by Sara Riley to the planet Tarazed, who they will live with in peace and co-existence.

After 300 years, with the re-emergence of the Andromeda and its plan to resurrect the Commonwealth, the Tarazed Nietzscheans and Sabra-Jaguar Pride joins Dylan Hunt's cause.

Unfortunately, the enigmatic being known as the Spirit of the Abyss, had caused a new Nietzschean uprising, resulting in the occupation of Sinti, the near loss of an entire High Guard fleet and the corrupt Commonwealth Collectors ally with it.

About 2 years after the Commonwealth reformation, the Drago-Kazov Pride and Sabra-Jaguar Pride Prides make a move on Tarazed, now the new Commonwealth capital. It was only opposed by a few defense forces, their very much surprising Alpha Matriarch and the Andromeda. It was forced to go through the Route of Ages to the Seefra System in order to use the Vedran sun to destroy the Abyss. It is later reported that Tarazed had survived the attack.

Nietzscheans are a directly derived sub-species Homo Sapiens Sapiens, that have been modified at the genetic level. They have the same amount of chromosomes as an unmodified Humans, although there is less variation and chance of mutation, removing the threats of everything from cancer to eye sight deficiencies.

Nietzcheans are immune to some poisons (aconite, ammonia, antipyrine, arsenic, atropine, camphor, hydrocyanic acid, iodine, lead, picrotoxin, & strychnine) and diseases (diphtheria, hepatitis a, hepatitis b, influenza, Lyme disease, measles, meningococcal disease, mumps, pertussis, pneumococcal disease, polio, rabies, rubella, tetanus, and varicella).

Nietzcheans are only immune to the Earth-based diseases and poisons that were developed and/or discovered Prior to their leaving Earth in 3477 (as listed above; this can also include other diseases and poisons from the time period and on). Nietzcheans, even with their strong immunological systems, are still susceptible to modern poisons and diseases.

They are able to breathe chlorine gas for short periods of time, although long-term exposure (longer than 30 minutes) will cause permanent harm, just as if they were a "normal" human.

Nietzcheans are able to survive in harsher environments easier than a normal human can, and pride themselves on thriving where normal humans wouldn't dare to tread. It should be remembered though that Nietzcheans are not indestructible, and most environments that are inhospitable to Homo sapiens are also inhospitable to Homo sapien invictus.

Biologically, Nietzcheans reproduce in exactly the same way as Earth humans do. One male and one female is all it takes to reproduce and create a Nietzchean child. Nietzchean enter puberty anywhere from 1014 years, with an average of 11.8 years of age.

Their bone blades are a natural outgrowth, and are fully developed by mid-puberty. The bone blades can be either perpendicular to a forearm or can lie on a forearm with blade tips pointed toward the arm elbow and are controlled by a voluntary muscle on each forearm that attaches to the bone blades. The bone blades are made of a bone-like substance, and can be used as a natural weapon in personal combat when blades are perpendicular to forearm to stab an opponent. The removal of the bone blades without anesthetic can cause a Nietzschean great physical pain, but the blades will grow back.

Finally, the Nietzschean lifespan is a maximum 150 years of age.

A holographic crystal displaying Freya Rajput's genetic information.

To a Nietzschean, reproduction is the single-most important event in their lives. They choose their mates with care, only reproducing with those who have genes that will strengthen the clan, the Pride, and the Nietzschean species as a whole.

To become married and reproduce, a Nietzschean must present their potential mate to their clan's (or pride's) Matriarch, who will do a genetic scan and determine if the genes of the potential mate are strong. If approved, the couple becomes married in a private ceremony, involving only the two of them. The male and female exchange bracers that signify that they are one. Nietzscheans are very, very choosy about their mates. The point is not just to get people pregnant. It's to make sure your children reach breeding age themselves. Love 'em and leave 'em is a valid reproductive strategy, but it's risky. You can win big, but you can lose big too. And in Nietzschean society, women definitely have full control of their reproductive options, which means they chose the men, not the other way around.

A Nietzschean will only reproduce with another Nietzschean, except in the most dire of circumstances (one example could be that a male Nietzschean who is about to die would procreate with a "normal" human, to carry on his genes). A Nietzschean would never reproduce with a member of any other species except for "normal" humans. They would feel that the Nietzschean species would become contaminated with impure genetic material. Nietzschean/Human hybrids do exist, but in very small numbers. They are noticeable by their shorter than average arm spikes, and also for the fact that they are smaller in size then the average Nietzschean, even though they are still larger in size than their "normal" parent.

It is normal for a Nietzschean male to have many wives and have children with each; with some families as large as one male with 10+ wives, and 30+ children.

Tyr Anasazi and Charlemagne Bolivar exchanging a typical Nietzschean greeting.

The Human philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed that strife and conflict would inevitably reshape men into something better and stronger than what they once were. As a superhuman species, Nietzscheans took his words to heart and used genetic engineering and nanotechnology to reshape themselves into the ultimate survivors. Yet, it is important to keep in mind that the actual philosopher Nietzsche was not only opposed to social darwinism, but was also opposed to biological interpretations of his thought. His philosophy is focused on artistic self-overcoming, not competition.

Nietzscheans have built their culture on the twin pillars of social Darwinism and Dawkinite genetic competitiveness. Their single-minded devotion to self-improvement and the propagation of their own genes can strike other species (even their non-Nietzschean Human cousins) as selfish and arrogant, yet in practice the Nietzscheans' boundless energy and willpower have made them valued contributors to the Systems Commonwealth and many other cultures and worlds. For all their genetic engineering and superhuman strength and endurance, Nietzscheans are still human beings, with human emotions.

The Nietzschean people have a prophecy that proclaims that one day, a Nietzschean will be born that is the genetic reincarnation of Drago Musevini. That person would unite the scattered tribes and would be able to unite them into one large, very powerful entity, one that would be able to overrun and rule the known worlds. Nietzscheans, no matter what pride, usually believe in the prophecy, however there are those who believe that it is still just a myth. Because of this proclamation, Nietzscheans are tested at birth to see whether their DNA is identical of their progenitor.

Nietzscheans pride themselves on their attractiveness, strength, cunning, and treachery.

When asked what he wanted, Sabra-Jaguar Pride Arch Duke Charlemagne Bolivar replied: "The usual hundreds of grandchildren, complete dominion over the known worlds, and the pleasure of hearing that all my enemies have died in highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me." ("Into the Labyrinth")

However, Gaheris Rhade had an idealistic view and was thoroughly disgusted with the reality: "Our people were meant to be living gods, warrior-poets who roamed the stars bringing civilization, not cowards and bullies who prey on the weak and kill each other for sport. I never imagined they'd prove themselves so inferior." ("The Unconquerable Man") It should be noted that Rhade lived during the reign of the old Commonwealth and his beliefs may not be unique of Nietzscheans from this time period.

From a conversation between Tyr Anasazi and Charlemagne Bolivar, it seems that the different prides take different approaches to the idea of "genetic superiority". Bolivar comments that the Kodiak bred for strength, size, attractiveness and "imaginative hairstyles", while his own pride, the Jaguars, and then the Sabra-Jaguar, value treachery, cunning, and "proper table manners". Due to television's limitations on casting, it's not apparent that there is a physical difference between different kinds of Nietzscheans (or between them and normal Homo sapiens for that matter), but it's quite possible that there might be what could be considered several "sub-species" to Homo sapiens invictus between several of the long established prides, where the average Kodiak would be taller and stronger than the average Jaguar born Nietzscheans. However, these preferential differences don't change the basic requisites for a Nietzschean (bone blades, bigger than Homo sapiens, 5 times the strength, etc.) as they do still register as the same species.

Similar to a wolf pack, the "pride" terminology is distinctly leonine, the organization of prides is dominated by an Alpha Male. The Alpha Male will usually listen to the advice of the other strong men in his pride, along with the stronger females. He will also listen to the advice of the pride's Matriarch.

Alpha Male: Leader of a Pride/Clan. The strongest, smartest, quickest Nietzschean Male of a Pride/Clan, or one who has learned to survive while all of his comrades have been removed.

Alpha Female / Matriarch: Strongest Female of the Pride or Clan. Not necessarily the wife of the pride/clan's Alpha Male (can be grandmother, mother, sister, cousin, or even daughter.) One of the primary duties of the Matriarch is to assure that the genes of a prospective mate (either male or female) are good ones, and that those genes will benefit the pride by reproduction.

Another duty is to make sure that weak genes are removed, so that they do not contribute to the pride/clan. This is accomplished by preventing weak genes from entering the pride/clan in the first place, but it also means that the Matriarch may need to remove weak male and female members of her own pride/clan in order to assure the survival of the rest of the pride/clan.

A Nietzschean becomes an adult when he or she reaches reproductive age, which can be anywhere from 1014 years, with an average of 11.8 years of age. When they become adults, they are expected to maintain their pride/clan's superiority, and to fight for the pride/clan when necessary. All Nietzscheans, both male and female, are brought up with these sacred teachings. In addition, females have the additional responsibility to produce strong alpha-personality Males to lead the pride/clan and keep it strong.

New Prides can be formed if a strong male and at least one strong female break off from their pride. The stronger a Nietzschean Pride is, the better a chance it has of becoming more powerful and defeating its enemy prides.

A Nietzschean is born into a clan (family). Numerous clans form a Nietzschean Pride. Prides consist of various clans who are somewhat genetically related to each other. They are usually named after powerful mythological and historical figures or creatures from the ancient planet Earth.

Nietzschean males and females have long full names, which include a short genealogy. Their names include their Primary Name, their Clan Name, their mother's name, their father's name, and finally, the Pride Affiliation.

The following is an example of a full and formal Nietzschean name:

If questioned about who their lineage is (in the case that there is more than one Nietzschean with that name) they will respond with their father's name followed by their grandfather's name.

Nietzscheans may also use normal, human names for their children if they so choose.

Primary names for Nietzcheans have evolved from their Earth origins.

Examples of Nietzschean Primary Names:

Following is a listing of Nietzschean first names, clan names, and pride names. A particular Nietzschean can only be of one Pride at a time.

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The scientist Charles Darwin had awakened the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche from his dogmatic slumber by the realization that, throughout organic history, no species is immutable (including our own). Pervasive change replaced eternal fixity. Going beyond Darwin, the German thinker offered an interpretation of dynamic nature that considered both the philosophical implications and theological consequences of taking the fact of biological evolution seriously.

Nietzsche was not previously oblivious to either geological time or the paleontological record. He accepted the most controversial ramification of Darwins theory: humankind had evolved from remote apelike ancestors, in a completely naturalistic way, through a process of chance and necessity (fortuitous random variations appearing in, and inevitable natural selection acting on, individuals within a changing environment). Even the mental faculties of human beings, including love and reason, were acquired during the course of evolutionary ascent from earlier primate forms.

For Nietzsche, evolution is the correct explanation for organic history but it results in a disastrous picture of reality, since evolution (as he saw it) has far-reaching truths for both scientific cosmology and philosophical anthropology: God is no longer necessary to account for either the existence of this universe or the emergence of our species from prehistoric animals. In fact, this philosopher held that Darwinian evolution led to a collapse of all traditional values, because both objective meaning and spiritual purpose had vanished from reality (and consequently, there can be no fixed or certain morality).

Nietzsche knew that the previous philosophical systems from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and Hegel were inadequate to deal with the crisis of evolution. As a result, a totally new philosophy of the world was now required. Nietzsche offered an interpretation of reality that accepted the fluidity of nature, species, ideas, beliefs and values. Furthermore, he held that it is nonsense to think that the fact of evolution can ever be taught as if it were a religion (since the process of evolution contains nothing that is stable or eternal or spiritual).

One can imagine Nietzsches tirades against the biblical fundamentalism and so-called scientific creationism that have threatened science and reason during the twentieth century. An atheist, Nietzsche would have also abhorred Stephen J. Gould for upholding an unwarranted dualistic ontology which supports both the natural world of the scientist and the transcendent realm of the theologian. Instead, as a monist, he would have admired Richard Dawkins and Daniel C. Dennett for their strictly naturalistic framework, which gives no credence to supernaturalism.

Nietzsche had assumed that the outcome of Darwinian evolution could only account for the success of inferior (weak and mediocre) forms of life simply in terms of sheer numbers, e.g., the ubiquitous viruses, bacteria, insects and fishes. The philosopher argued that Darwins blind speciesstruggle of the masses for existence needed to be replaced by his own discovery of the individual-struggle of a few for selfcreation and excellence.

Nietzsche saw the explanatory mechanism of natural selection as merely accounting for the quantity of species within organic history, but (for him) it is a vitalistic force that increases the quality of life forms throughout progressive biological evolution. He held that nature is essentially the will to power. Evolving life is not merely the Spencerian/Darwinian struggle for existence but, more importantly, it is the ongoing striving toward ever-greater complexity, diversity, multiplicity and creativity. In short, reminiscent of the interpretations offered by Lamarck and Henri Bergson (among others), Nietzsches vitalism had substituted Darwins adaptive fitness with creative power.

The philosopher held that the evolution of organisms had its origin in primordial slime, but our species now stands high and proud on the pyramid of life. Even so, he saw a natural tendency for the human animal to evolve toward common mediocrity. But, through the will to power, superior individuals have the potential to master their lives (overcoming nihilism and pessimism) and the intellect to actualize creative activity.

As with Thomas Huxley, Ernst Haeckel and Darwin himself, Nietzsche taught the historical continuity between human beings and other animals (especially the chimpanzees). However, the philosopher did assert that some individuals will rise far above the beasts, including our own species, but this will only occur in the remote future.

If our species has ascended from the fossil apes, then why should it not be followed by an even higher form of life as the ape has been surpassed by the human animal of today? According to Nietzsche, our biological species is the meaning and purpose of the earth so far, because it is the arrow pointing from the past ape to the future overman; this exalted but unimaginable being will be as intellectually advanced beyond the present human animal as our species is biologically advanced beyond the lowly worm!

For Nietzsche, the aesthetic evolutionist as sculptor, the coming overman is like an ideal image sleeping in a crude rock. In carving this superior being, the philosopher was guided by its shadow, although he remained indifferent to the destruction resulting from his intense creativity: Fragments fly from the stone; what is that to me?

Unlike the silenced priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a geopaleontologist and Jesuit mystic, Nietzsche did not foresee a final end-goal or an ultimate omega point for human evolution. Instead, his metaphysics is grounded in the eternal recurrence of this same universe, i.e., an infinite series of identical cosmic cycles. As such, there is no progressive evolution from universe to universe. Consequently, Nietzsches process cosmology represents being as becoming, and its teleological evolution to the overman within each cycle is strictly determined.

Nietzsche did not speculate on life or intelligence or exoevolution elsewhere in this universe. Furthermore, this philosopher could not have imagined mass extinctions, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and human space travel to other planets. Clearly, continuing advances in science and technology will offer awesome possibilities for neolife and overbeings in the ages ahead.

Friedrich Nietzsche had taken time, change and evolution seriously. He was acutely aware that this universe is totally indifferent to human existence. Yet, his philosophy offers an optimistic challenge for those who are willing to follow the lightning bolts of his heroic vision.

H. James Birx 2000

H. James Birx, Interpreting Evolution: Darwin & Teilhard de Chardin, Prometheus, 1991.Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883-1885),Prometheus, 1993, esp. pp.13-27.Keith Ansell Pearson, Viroid Life: Perspectives on Nietzsche and the Transhuman Condition, Routledge, 1997.Peter Poellner, Nietzsche and Metaphysics, OUP, 1995.Eric Steinhart, On Nietzsche, Wadsworth, 2000.Irving M. Zeitlin, Nietzsche: A Re-examination, Polity, 1994.

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