Here Zarathustra gives names to the intellect and the instincts; he calls the one “the little sagacity” and the latter “the big sagacity.” Schopenhauer’s teaching concerning the intellect is fully endorsed here. “An instrument of thy body is also thy little sagacity, my brother, which thou callest ‘spirit,’” says Zarathustra. From beginning to end it is a warning to those who would think too lightly of the instincts and unduly exalt the intellect and its derivatives: Reason and Understanding.
criticism · Notes: Part I. The Prologue
Little and big sagacity: intellect and instinct
Ludovici says that in 'The Despisers of the Body' Zarathustra calls the intellect the little sagacity and the instincts the big sagacity, endorsing Schopenhauer's view of the intellect as the body's instrument and warning against exalting reason over the instincts.
On Zarathustra
- Fidelity to the earth and the bodyGlosses spirit as an instrument of the body and the instincts as the greater reason.