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Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most polarizing and misunderstood of modern philosophers. Dismissed\xa0by some and misinterpreted\xa0by others, the real philosophy\xa0of Nietzsche in fact holds some incredibly life-affirming truths for everyone, regardless of belief or age.\xa0\n\nMy guest today has spent much of both his personal and professional life tracking down those insights.\xa0At the age of 19 and then again at age 37, he\xa0traveled to the Swiss town where Nietzsche wrote his famous work,\xa0Thus Spoke\xa0Zarathustra, and learned something different on each trip from the mustachioed philosopher about living a life of meaning and significance.\xa0His name is John Kaag, and he\u2019s a professor of philosophy and the author of\xa0Hiking With Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are.\xa0\n\nIn this compelling conversation, John discusses what he learned about life hiking the same mountain Nietzsche hiked, including the role that walking itself played in Nietzsche's approach to thinking. We begin with the biggest misconceptions about the philosopher, including what he really meant when he said \u201cGod is dead." John then walks us through Nietzsche's idea of the will to power, how this impulse should be balanced with\xa0amor fati\xa0-- the love of fate -- in order to achieve Nietzsche's ideal of becoming who you are, and the different things his philosophy can mean to a young man and to one approaching middle age. \n\nGet the show notes at aom.is/kaag.