# Übermensch: A Hero of Our Time?



## Mindful (Apr 24, 2018)

*Eva Cybulska dispells popular misconceptions about this controversial figure.*
“Man is a rope, fastened between animal and _Übermensch_ – a rope over an abyss.”
_Thus Spoke Zarathustra_, Prologue

The term _Übermensch_, often translated as Superman or Overman, was not invented by Nietzsche. The concept of _hyperanthropos_ can be found in the ancient writings of Lucian. In German, the word had already been used by Müller, Herder, Novalis, Heine, and most importantly by Goethe in relation to Faust (in _Faust_, Part I, line 490). In America Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of the Oversoul, and, perhaps with the exception of Goethe’s Faust, his aristocratic, self-reliant ‘Beyond-man’ was probably the greatest contributor to Nietzsche’s idea of the _Übermensch_. Nietzsche was, however, well familiar with all the above sources.

The first public appearance of Nietzsche’s _Übermensch_ was in his book _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ (1883-5). As a teenager Nietzsche had already applied the word _Übermensch_ to Manfred, the lonely Faustian figure in Byron’s poem of the same name who wanders in the Alps tortured by some unspoken guilt. Having challenged all authoritative powers, he dies defying the religious path to redemption. Nietzsche’s affinity with Manfred culminated in him composing a piano duet called _Manfred Meditation_, which he sent to his musical hero, the conductor Hans von Bülow. The maestro’s verdict on this ‘masterpiece’ as “the most irritating musical extravagance” put a decisive end to Nietzsche’s career as a music composer.

Nietzsche’s Übermensch: A Hero of Our Time? | Issue 93 | Philosophy Now


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## Mindful (Apr 24, 2018)

^^ *What the Übermensch is Not*
“Above all do not confuse me with what I am not!”
_Ecce Homo_

The _Übermensch_ is not a Nazi. Nietzsche’s anti-semitic sister Elisabeth invited Hitler to her brother’s shrine in Weimar in 1934 and essentially made an offering of his philosophy. The Führer, who never read the philosopher’s works, took to the selected snippets that Elisabeth provided like a proverbial fish to water and adopted the _Übermensch_ as a symbol of a master-race. Little did he know that Nietzsche had written that he “would have all anti-Semites shot”, not to mention his strong anti-nationalistic and pan-European tendencies. Provocatively, he also talked of himself as “the last anti-political German” (_Ecce Homo_, Why I am so Wise).

Some anarchists appropriated _Übermensch_ to their cause, latching onto its aspects of strength and individualism. But Nietzsche never advocated abolishment of the state or legislation in pursuit of selfish aims. Quite the opposite: he argued for a well-ordered soul and a well-ordered society.

_Übermensch_ is not a tyrant. If anything, he is someone capable of tyranny who manages to overcome and sublimate this urge. His magnanimity stems not from weakness and servitude, but from the strength of his passions. He is rather like “the Roman Caesar with Christ’s soul” (_Will to Power_; 983), a value-creating and value-destroying free spirit who disciplines himself to wholeness. It’s important to stress that there has never yet been an _Übermensch_; it remains an ideal.


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## there4eyeM (Apr 24, 2018)

Apt interpretation. Unfortunately, this vocabulary has become so polluted and hijacked in social exchange that few will be able to deal well with what is stated in the op.
The aspiration to a human that fulfills human kind's potential is as old as time. Jesus represents part of it, as do Lao Tzu, Buddha, Zarathustra and a few others. We get glimmers of it in certain individuals from time to time, and in our own thinking when most inspired. The tendency in the popular mind to reject the concept as inherently élitist adds to the problem of actively pursuing the goal socially.
Like "God is dead", the refusal to penetrate the superficial sense of the expression negates a positive interpretation.


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## Mindful (Apr 24, 2018)

there4eyeM said:


> Apt interpretation. Unfortunately, this vocabulary has become so polluted and hijacked in social exchange that few will be able to deal well with what is stated in the op.
> The aspiration to a human that fulfills human kind's potential is as old as time. Jesus represents part of it, as do Lao Tzu, Buddha, Zarathustra and a few others. We get glimmers of it in certain individuals from time to time, and in our own thinking when most inspired. The tendency in the popular mind to reject the concept as inherently élitist adds to the problem of actively pursuing the goal socially.
> Like "God is dead", the refusal to penetrate the superficial sense of the expression negates a positive interpretation.



So somebody took/stole the word übermensch, corrupted it to have another meaning other than that which Nietsche ascribed to it. Then it was conveniently given its opposite, _untermensch, _ to categorise all the racially inferior people the Nazis decided were not fit to live.


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## there4eyeM (Apr 24, 2018)

One problem is translating the word into English; all the usual options miss a nuance to the concept. 'Superior', 'super', 'over' just don't get it. There is also the aspect of 'man' being part of the term. We have to deal with the unfortunate fact that people of certain persuasions are allergic in a political correctness way to many otherwise useful forms of verbiage.
Another way of expressing it might help. 'Nexthuman'? 'Evolvedone'? 'Mindful Being'?


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## Mindful (Apr 24, 2018)

there4eyeM said:


> One problem is translating the word into English; all the usual options miss a nuance to the concept. 'Superior', 'super', 'over' just don't get it. There is also the aspect of 'man' being part of the term. We have to deal with the unfortunate fact that people of certain persuasions are allergic in a political correctness way to many otherwise useful forms of verbiage.
> Another way of expressing it might help. 'Nexthuman'? 'Evolvedone'? 'Mindful Being'?



German language always has to have an unter to its über/ober.


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## there4eyeM (Apr 24, 2018)

Mindful said:


> there4eyeM said:
> 
> 
> > One problem is translating the word into English; all the usual options miss a nuance to the concept. 'Superior', 'super', 'over' just don't get it. There is also the aspect of 'man' being part of the term. We have to deal with the unfortunate fact that people of certain persuasions are allergic in a political correctness way to many otherwise useful forms of verbiage.
> ...


Oh, there is no doubt that the _'untermenschen'_ are very numerous. Every human perception, however, exists only by contrast. This does not seem to be commonly realized and integrated into general thought processes (if, indeed, thought processes are general).


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