THE VOICE OF ZARATHUSTRA AND THE ROLE OF THE ANALYST: POSSIBLE DIALOGUES BETWEEN THE PHILOSOPHY OF F. W. NIETZSCHE AND THE PSYCHOANALYSIS OF W. R. BION

Abstract

This article investigates the relationships between the figure of Zarathustra, as presented by Friedrich Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and the role of the analyst in Wilfred Bion’s psychoanalysis. Zarathustra, by challenging his interlocutors to confront their limitations and transcend them, promotes the deconstruction of values inherited by culture and the creation of new meanings. This philosophical dynamic finds resonance in psychoanalytic practice, especially in the role of the analyst as a continent, capable of sustain­ing emotional chaos and favoring psychic transformation. The interdisciplinary analysis of Nietzschean concepts such as overcoming, eternal recurrence, and creation, alongside Bionian notions of alpha function, negative capability, and “O,” reveals the transformative potential of psychoanalysis as a field of freedom and creativity. The article, therefore, proposes that Nietzsche’s philosophical inspiration expands the understanding of the analytic space as a place for the elaboration of emotions and autonomy.

Keywords: F. W. Nietzsche. W. R. Bion. Zarathustra. Psychoanalysis. Philosophy and Psychoanalysis.