Nietzsche's concept of the ubermensch, or overman, creates an ideal way of life according to his beliefs. This way includes living life in the moment by embracing uncertainty and getting rid of necessity. The most interesting part of this theory is that this way of life contradicts the most common tenets created throughout time. Most works intended to guide the human race to achieve greatness involve being morally correct by planning actions beforehand and debating cause and effect. Therefore, ubermensch is an unconventional approach to directing human life. This unearths Nietzsche's rejection of God/ religion, science, and truth because these items are traditional methods and concepts that people tend to use to guide their lives.
2 comments:
I think the concept of the "uber mensch" is more about mentality than a way of life. We learned that Nietzsche thought that humans related more closely to apes than to the ideal "uber mensch". Therefore, I don't think that Nietzsche wanted everyone to live as an "uber mensch" if he did not believe that humanity reached that point. Instead I believe he wants humans to focus on the mentality of an "uber mensch" which is to overcome all and endure all pain. The reason I say it is more about mentality is because Nietzsche seemed to focus a large chunk of his philosophy on slave versus master mentality. The master mentality would be that of the over man which would assist one in maximizing their potential for their own benefit. I agree that he wants us to focus on our over man instead of focusing on things such as religion, science, etc because he believes such things are pointless and fake.
I think that the concept of the ubermench is a kind of goal set for humans in their lives. In Nietzsche's book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the ubermench is set as a goal for humanity, the thing that everyone would strive for. People would be judged for how they advanced the next generation of human beings, not their own generation. For example, a woman's goal would be to give birth to an ubermench. Unfortunately, later on the Nazis used this term to describe the ideal Aryan race, but this idea was racially based and completely different from Nietzsche's idea.
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