# IV: The Despisers of the Body explained — Thus Spoke Zarathustra

> Chapter companion for Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.

## What happens

Zarathustra addresses those who despise the body, arguing that the body is a great intelligence and that the self, not the ego or spirit, is the true ruler. He criticizes the despisers for turning away from life and the earth, unable to create beyond themselves, and declares they are no bridges to the Superman.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Body and the Earth

Central theme: Zarathustra exalts the body as a 'big sagacity' and the self as the ruler behind ego and spirit, urging reconciliation with the earthly.

### The Übermensch and Self-Overcoming

The despisers are criticized for being unable to create beyond themselves, thus failing to serve as bridges to the Superman.

## Character check-ins

### Zarathustra

Speaker of the chapter, addressing the despisers of the body.

### The Superman

Referenced as the goal that the despisers of the body fail to become bridges to.

## Key lines

> Body am I entirely, and nothing more; and soul is only the name of something in the body.

I am wholly body; 'soul' is just a label for a part of the body.

_Zarathustra rejects dualism, asserting the primacy of the body._

> The Self saith unto the ego: 'Feel pain!' And thereupon it suffereth, and thinketh how it may put an end thereto—and for that very purpose it is meant to think.

The self commands the ego to feel pain, and the ego then thinks of ways to end it—that is the purpose of thinking.

_Illustrates the self's mastery over the ego and the instrumental role of thought._

> Ye are no bridges for me to the Superman!

You are not pathways for me toward the Superman.

_Zarathustra dismisses the despisers as incapable of contributing to the higher human ideal._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se/chapters/iv-the-despisers-of-the-body
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/thus_spoke_zarathustra_se/chapters