Übermensch
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The ( , ; 'Overman' or 'Superman') is a
concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...
in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. In his 1883 book, '' Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' (),
Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...
has his character Zarathustra posit the as a goal for humanity to set for itself. The represents a shift from otherworldly Christian values and manifests the grounded human ideal. The is someone who has "crossed over" the bridge, from the comfortable "house on the lake" (the comfortable, easy, mindless acceptance of what a person has been taught, and what everyone else believes) to the mountains of unrest and solitude.


In English

In 1896, Alexander Tille made the first English translation of '' Thus Spoke Zarathustra'', rendering as "Beyond-Man". In 1909, Thomas Common translated it as "Superman", following the terminology of
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...
's 1903 stage play '' Man and Superman''. Walter Kaufmann lambasted this translation in the 1950s for two reasons: first, the failure of the English prefix "super" to capture the German (though in Latin, ''super'' means "above" or "beyond", which is closer to the German); and second, for permitting a widespread misidentification of Nietzsche's concept with the comic-book character
Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
. Kaufmann and others preferred to translate as "overman". A translation like "superior humans" might better fit the concept of Nietzsche as he unfolds his narrative. Scholars continue to employ both terms, some simply opting to reproduce the German word. The German prefix can have connotations of superiority, transcendence, excessiveness, or intensity, depending on the words to which it is attached. ''Mensch'' refers to a human being, not a male specifically as it is still sometimes erroneously believed. The adjective means super-human: beyond human strength or out of proportion to humanity.


This-worldliness

Nietzsche introduces the concept of the in contrast to his understanding of the other-worldliness of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
: Zarathustra proclaims the will of the to give meaning to life on earth, and admonishes his audience to ignore those who promise other-worldly fulfillment to draw them away from the earth. Zarathustra declares that the Christian escape from this world also required the invention of an immortal soul separate from the earthly body. This led to the abnegation and mortification of the body, or
asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
. Zarathustra further links the to the body and to interpreting the soul as simply an aspect of the body.


Death of God and the creation of new values

Zarathustra ties the to the death of God. While the concept of God was the ultimate expression of other-worldly values and their underlying instincts, belief in God nevertheless did give meaning to life for a time. "God is dead" means that the idea of God can no longer provide values. Nietzsche refers to this crucial paradigm shift as a reevaluation of values. In order to avoid a relapse into Platonic idealism or asceticism, the creation of these new values cannot be motivated by the same instincts that gave birth to those tables of values. Instead, they must be motivated by a love of this world and of life. Whereas Nietzsche diagnosed the Christian value system as a reaction against life and hence destructive in a sense, the new values that the will be responsible for will be life-affirming and creative (see Nietzschean affirmation). Through realizing this new set of values, the is perfect because they have mastered all human obstacles.


As a goal

Zarathustra first announces the as a goal humanity can set for itself. All human life would be given meaning by how it advanced a new generation of human beings. The aspiration of a woman would be to give birth to an , for example; her relationships with men would be judged by this standard. Zarathustra contrasts the with the degenerate " last man" of egalitarian modernity, an alternative goal which humanity might set for itself. "last man" appears only in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'', and is presented as a smothering of aspiration antithetical to the spirit of the . According to
Rüdiger Safranski Rüdiger Safranski (born 1 January 1945) is a German philosopher and author. Life From 1965 to 1972, Safranski studied philosophy (among others, with Theodor W. Adorno), German literature, history and history of art at Goethe University ...
, some commentators associate the with a program of
eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...
.


Re-embodiment of amoral aristocratic values

For
Rüdiger Safranski Rüdiger Safranski (born 1 January 1945) is a German philosopher and author. Life From 1965 to 1972, Safranski studied philosophy (among others, with Theodor W. Adorno), German literature, history and history of art at Goethe University ...
, the represents a higher biological type reached through
artificial selection Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ...
and at the same time is also an ideal for anyone who is creative and strong enough to master the whole spectrum of human potential, good and "evil", to become an "artist-tyrant". In ''Ecce Homo'', Nietzsche vehemently denied any idealistic, democratic or humanitarian interpretation of the : "The word esignatesa type of supreme achievement, as opposed to 'modern' men, 'good' men,
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
, and other
nihilists Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that life is meaningless, that moral values are baseless, and that knowledge is impossible. Thes ...
..When I whispered into the ears of some people that they were better off looking for a Cesare Borgia than a Parsifal, they did not believe their ears." Safranski argues that the combination of ruthless warrior pride and artistic brilliance that defined the
Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
embodied the sense of the for Nietzsche. According to Safranski, Nietzsche intended the ultra-aristocratic figure of the to serve as a Machiavellian bogeyman of the modern Western middle class and its pseudo-Christian egalitarian value system.


Relation to the eternal recurrence

The shares a place of prominence in ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' with another of Nietzsche's key concepts: the eternal recurrence of the same. Laurence Lampert suggests that the eternal recurrence replaces the as the object of serious aspiration.


Use by the Nazis

The term was used frequently by
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
regime to describe their idea of a biologically superior
Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...
or Germanic master race; a
racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...
version of Nietzsche's became a philosophical foundation for Nazi ideas. The Nazi notion of the
master race The master race ( ) is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology, in which the putative Aryan race is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as ''master humans'' ( ). The Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg b ...
also spawned the idea of "inferior humans" (''
Untermensch ''Untermensch'' (; plural: ''Untermenschen'') is a German language word literally meaning 'underman', 'sub-man', or ' subhuman', which was extensively used by Germany's Nazi Party to refer to their opponents and non- Aryan people they deemed ...
en'') who should be dominated and enslaved; this term does not originate with Nietzsche, who was critical of both
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
and German nationalism. In his final years, Nietzsche began to believe that he was in fact Polish, not German, and was quoted as saying, "I am a pure-blooded Polish nobleman, without a single drop of bad blood, certainly not German blood". In defiance of nationalist doctrines, he claimed that he and Germany were great only because of "Polish blood in their veins", and that he would "
ave is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...
all anti-semites shot." Nietzsche died long before Hitler's reign, and it was partly Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche who manipulated her brother's words to accommodate the worldview of herself and her husband, Bernhard Förster, a prominent German nationalist and antisemite. Förster founded the ''Deutscher Volksverein'' (German People's League) in 1881 with Max Liebermann von Sonnenberg. Karl Dietrich Bracher, ''The German Dictatorship'', 1970, pp. 59–60


Anarchism

The thought of Nietzsche had an important influence on anarchist authors. Spencer Sunshine writes: The influential American anarchist
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...
, in the preface of her famous collection '' Anarchism and Other Essays'', defends both Nietzsche and Max Stirner from attacks within anarchism when she says Sunshine says that the "Spanish anarchists also mixed their class politics with Nietzschean inspiration."
Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (; January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. Influenced by G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Peter Kropotkin, he was a pioneer in the environmental ...
, in '' The Spanish Anarchists'', describes prominent Catalan CNT member Salvador Seguí as "an admirer of Nietzschean individualism, of the to whom 'all is permitted. Bookchin, in his 1973 introduction to Sam Dolgoff's '' The Anarchist Collectives'', even describes the reconstruction of society by the workers as a Nietzschean project. Bookchin says that


See also


References

Notes Bibliography * * Knoll, Manuel (2014) "The Übermensch as Social and Political Task: A Study in the Continuity of Nietzsche’s Political Thought", in: Knoll, Manual and Stocker, Barry (eds.) (2014) ''Nietzsche as Political Philosopher'', Berlin/Boston, pp. 239–266. * Lampert, Laurence (1986) ''Nietzsche's Teaching: An Interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra''. New Haven: Yale University Press. * Nietzsche, Friedrich (1885) '' Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' * Nietzsche, Friedrich; Hollingdale, R. J. and Rieu, E.V. (eds.) (1961_ ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' Penguin Classics: Penguin Publishing (Originally published 1885) * Rosen, Stanley (1995) '' The Mask of Enlightenment: Nietzsche's Zarathustra''. New York: Cambridge University Press. * Safranski, Rudiger (2002 '' Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography''. Translated by Shelley Frisch. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. * Wilson, Colin (1981) ''The Outsider''. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher.


External links

{{Authority control Conceptions of self Concepts in aesthetics Existentialist concepts Nordicism German words and phrases Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche Prediction Thus Spoke Zarathustra