Exploring Nietzsche’s Idea on Liberal Education in Thus Spoke Zarathustra

After publishing his culminating thoughts in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche wrote new prefaces for his earlier works such as The Birth of Tragedy and Human, All Too Human. In these prefaces, Nietzsche was sharply self-critical, not only of the content of his previous works but also of their logical development. Just as Nietzsche's theory of art shifted from the early ‘artist-metaphysics’ to the later ‘physiological aesthetics’, it is likely that between his early and later theories of liberal education there are both continuities and differences. This paper aims to explore Nietzsche's later theory of liberal education as implied in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which reflects his mature thoughts. The research findings indicate that, unlike the early Nietzsche, who advocated a theory of liberal education based on the ‘metaphysics of genius’ - teaching a select elite the ancient Greek culture in a manner that enforces obedience to the sovereign authority of genius, the later Nietzsche proposed a theory of liberal education that focuses on the becoming Übermensch. This later theory aims to educate the masses to overcome themselves, each finding their own path in solitude. This approach by the later Nietzsche suggests the necessity of attempting a Bildung-oriented, perspective-oriented, and education-oriented liberal education in today's universities, which are dominated by academic-oriented or employment-oriented liberal education.