# II: The Academic Chairs of Virtue explained — Thus Spoke Zarathustra

> Chapter companion for Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

Zarathustra visits a wise man who teaches that virtue is a means to achieve good sleep. The wise man prescribes a regimen of daily self-overcomings, reconciliations, truths, and laughter, all in service of a peaceful night. Zarathustra laughs inwardly, recognizing that this wisdom reduces life to mere drowsiness and has no higher meaning. He concludes that such teachers of virtue are obsolete, promoting only a sleep without dreams.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Herd Morality

The wise man's virtue is a herd morality aimed at comfort and sleep, which Zarathustra dismisses as lacking higher significance.

### The Übermensch and Self-Overcoming

The wise man's ten daily self-overcomings are parodied as mere means to sleep, contrasting with Zarathustra's vision of overcoming for creation and growth.

## Character check-ins

### Zarathustra

Visits the wise man and listens to his discourse on sleep and virtue, ultimately laughing at the reduction of life to mere drowsiness.

### The Higher Men

Implied as the youths sitting before the wise man, seeking virtue for the sake of sleep.

## Key lines

> No small art is it to sleep: it is necessary for that purpose to keep awake all day.

Sleeping well requires being fully awake and active during the day.

_The wise man's paradoxical teaching that wakefulness serves sleep._

> To all those belauded sages of the academic chairs, wisdom was sleep without dreams: they knew no higher significance of life.

For these praised professors, wisdom meant nothing more than dreamless sleep; they understood no deeper purpose in life.

_Zarathustra's critique of the reduction of wisdom to mere comfort._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se/chapters/ii-the-academic-chairs-of-virtue
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se/chapters