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When we destroy everything, what do we have? This is one of the many ideas explored within the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. The answer he once supplied to this question was the Übermensch, the man who is greater than mankind, the next evolution of the human race.
The concept of the Übermensch has been studied, interpreted, and manipulated over and over. It is almost impossible to distill effectively into a single sentence. The Übermensch is both apocalyptic and aspirational, both dangerous and comforting. If nothing else, it is powerful. For those feeling like they are lost in the forest of life, Nietzsche's Übermensch can provide, if not an escape route, some direction.
That direction is to be fiercely, belligerently, violently independent—to truly be your own individual in a world so ready to crudely thrust every human being into some pre-existing classification. But this description defies the totality of the Übermensch; it is reductive. So let's explore the idea more meaningfully.
A biographical work on Nietzsche would be its own pursuit. For our purposes, we will just say that he was a German-born philosopher active in the latter half of the 19th century. During this time, he developed the concept at hand: that of the Übermensch.
For its most true genesis, we can look to the ancient work of the Syrian writer Lucian, who discussed a hyper-anthropos. This was a satirical version of some superhuman figure, which is not entirely irrelevant to Nietzsche. Even more direct is the link to Ralph Waldo Emerson's 1841 essay called "The Over-Soul." In this work, he presents the idea that the unified soul of humanity could ascend beyond the highest reaches of mankind.
Emerson and Nietzsche are diametrically opposed in many ways, which has led researchers to often skip over this connection. But by Nietzsche's own admission, he saw Emerson as a spiritual brother. When commenting on a series written by Emerson, Nietzsche once said, "I have never felt so much at home in a book."
While we can't really credit Nietzsche with the core idea of man surpassing mankind, his version is certainly the most significant incarnation, and of course, it is the one we are discussing here. To do this, we can first try to dissect the word itself.
The latter part of the word "Mensch" translates into English pretty easily; it is a person, a human. But the prefix "Über" creates issues in this context. "Über" translates as over, above, or beyond. So we would have "above human" or something to that effect. But Nietzsche's Übermensch is human; he is, in a way, superhuman.
So many scholars have chosen to translate the word as "Superman." This worked reasonably well for a time; it describes a human who has transcended the existent version of humankind. But the Superman comic book character eventually became immensely popular. To avoid confusion, academics switched the English translation to "Overman," which works but really doesn't say much in itself as a word to native English speakers. It just isn't very helpful.
Ultimately, the word "Übermensch" is a German word, and I think we should just accept that. Certainly, I see no reason why it needs to be translatable or translated into English. Nietzsche's earliest incarnation of this concept seems to be found in an essay he wrote called "On Moods" in 1874.
In this essay, he discusses the idea of elevated moods to be very reductive—a sort of natural high, something beyond our contemporary understanding of a good mood. Certainly, in this work, he says that most people encounter these moods in durations of minutes and exist in a perpetual oscillation between high and low. But there exists a possibility that one could live entirely and permanently in this elevated state.
History, Nietzsche ultimately admits, provides no actual examples of this, and it is just a fantasy. Nietzsche reached the conclusion of the Übermensch with his work "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." This is written in the first-person perspective of its titular character, who is an all-seeing prophet.
Against Nietzsche's belief that religion was dead as humanity's moral compass, Zarathustra provided a new roadmap for humanity. Within "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," Nietzsche expresses that mankind has great untapped potential. He says, "Man in his present state, weighed down by his bad conscience, is truly a sick animal."
But perhaps this condition is like pregnancy—a sickness heavy with future possibilities. Man is such an incomplete transitional creature that it almost seems as if nature had some future plans for him, as if man were not an end but only a way, an episode, a bridge, a great promise.
Nietzsche himself never defines the Übermensch, but his framing does well to describe the concept. It is a destination that humanity can reach by collectively reassessing morals, methodology, and our definition of progress. Mankind, in its present form, is an obstacle that we must all overcome.
History's mightiest figures—Caesar, Da Vinci, Napoleon—all fell short of the Übermensch, according to Nietzsche. While admirable, they too were to be destroyed and left in their proper place of obsolescence. In his time, there were a few sensibilities that Nietzsche rejected. One was nihilism, the belief that basically life has no inherent meaning.
This is an interesting point because Nietzsche once described himself as a nihilist, and a surface-level understanding of his work also points to that conclusion. This is one of the great unfortunate and probably unintentional tricks that Nietzsche performed. It is easy to read his work and find only negativity and hopelessness. In fact, the opposite is true.
Nietzsche declared that the only way to destroy nihilism was to go through it—to embrace it. In some sense, he could use nihilism to move past nihilism. By doing so, we can make life into a beautiful blank space. In this space, we could find and insert true fulfillment—an individualistic, unique happiness that was not bound to the ideas of others.
In his time, modern thinking sought happiness for all people based on Christian ideas of right and wrong. Nietzsche rejected this idea as well. He believed that the church had their chance to unify and improve humanity but had spoiled it entirely. So Christianity, along with its dogmas, must also be rejected.
Any and all "isms" were just boundaries to the radical individualistic nature of the Übermensch. This higher version of man had broken free of rigid moral codes and societal expectations. He was perfectly free to be great.
This new version of humanity was not something based in Darwinian evolution; it was not a flesh-and-blood new species, but instead a new paradigm of existence. It was also not any specific chosen one or even population. The Übermensch is an idea—the idea that mankind must, can, and should develop beyond its current state, that there is simply something more we can achieve.
The values that created present humanity, Nietzsche recognized, would just create more of the same. This is sound enough logic. So instead, Zarathustra says humanity must develop an entirely new system of values, with the end goal being the production of the Übermensch.
Friedrich Nietzsche was inspired by the Greeks, who largely rejected the idea of equality. Nietzsche believed that nature had always and would always create beings who were greater than others. Some individuals were the dominant members of a species, while others were passive.
With this in mind, Nietzsche strived for a society that embraced individuality. He believed the rejection of individuality was an existential threat to the human race, and he knew that individuality inherently meant inequality. Nietzsche rejected egalitarian ideas like liberal democracy and socialism.
Religions, politics, and ideologies were an obstacle to the creation of perfectly free spirits. Likewise, the Übermensch would be himself detached from these heretical ways of thinking. He would be violently, radically free.
To modern sensibilities and those of his time, this could be taken as relatively extreme. But with Zarathustra, Nietzsche approaches the reordering of society with a degree of practicality. You see, it's easy to think that Nietzsche is saying we should swiftly and immediately cut down all that we know, but this is a misreading.
Throughout his life, he expressed an understanding of the slow nature of social change. He pointed to the French Revolution, which he said would have been entirely different if cooler heads had prevailed. Any societal problem, Nietzsche says, is like a chronic illness; it develops from small habits repeated over and over.
Nietzsche believes the cure must also come in this way—slow and steady. In "Thus Zarathustra," the prophet proclaims that moderation and courage are needed to achieve the Übermensch. In developing changes, we must avoid violent, sudden action. Instead, we will live in the old way while slowly taking in this new modality of existence.
Eventually, these small drops of newness will fill our cups, and we will exist peacefully as something novel. Nietzsche calls for deep, meaningful change, not shallow, boisterous proclamations. When one's life or society at large is filled with purpose, we can walk slowly and be fulfilled by each small step.
The fact remains, though, this change must be active. It must be ushered in by some people. So who will be those people? Nietzsche says that they must be both thinkers and men of action. They do not have to be enormously wealthy; in Nietzsche's new world, wealth will not be man's greatest aim.
Nietzsche also rejects that these men must be selected on the basis of race, and he further discounts the idea of aristocratic genealogy. The rulers across Europe, he said, were rife with corruption, and that would only continue. If anything, as Zarathustra indicates, the peasant class is more suited to the role.
It is not where one comes from but where one is going that is of the most importance. The quote "aristocrats of intellect" are also incapable of enacting this change. Studying is fine, but the people we seek must be capable of physical action.
The true question is instead, how strong are you? And not just physically. To bring about this new world, Zarathustra demands people who are of great mind, body, and soul. These people should accept responsibility, master themselves, and be prepared to master others.
While enormous wealth is not required, and these men need not be the richest in the world, Zarathustra says they must have the resources to grant themselves independence. They must be able to do what they want instead of what other people want them to do. This seems to be the importance of money in Nietzsche's system.
The idea of love is strikingly relevant too. Zarathustra says these men must seek love not only out of passion or lust. They must master themselves and their urges. They must not seek to create children out of loneliness or discontent with oneself. Instead, the individual should wish to create people even greater than himself.
Meanwhile, those who cannot be utilized for the advancement of humanity towards the Übermensch must be allowed to basically die out. You should be clear here: the men that Nietzsche is discussing are not themselves the Übermensch. They are instead the individuals who will lead society forward in a way that will eventually result in the realization of this concept.
This new version of civilization will also require significant social conditions to exist. According to Zarathustra, the prophet declares that unfavorable conditions are ideal for eventually achieving the Übermensch. Nietzsche says that these humans of the future must have great spiritual and moral power, which can only be proven by opposition, insecurity, and danger.
Nietzsche argued that these conditions would bring out the most elite qualities of these future individuals. People did not become great, after all, because everything was easy. No, they needed to overcome challenges. Broadly speaking, Nietzsche supports hardship and believes struggle will force the greatest of humankind to the top.
It should be noted, though, he does not provide much in the way of specifics on these hardships. Each remark that modern society seeks safety for everyone, but when danger disappears, so does the capability to deal with it. So does the capacity for greatness.
Nietzsche categorized wars and revolutions as clumsy ways to remedy this situation but admitted they are the greatest stimulants available. The church, again, had their chance to serve this role but had missed it. It could read as an endorsement of violence, and perhaps it was in a way, but ordinary gunpowder wars would be almost irrelevant to this future civilization.
Nietzsche notes that they usually concern trade or money rather than the advancement of humanity. These could be the training grounds for future great men, but only incidentally and without any uniquely important purpose to Nietzsche's new world. The blades and guns type of warfare was not Nietzsche's focus.
He was not a warmonger, nor does he express this idea as Zarathustra. Instead, he believes in wars between ideas. Most often, when Nietzsche praises the concept of war, this is the type of conflict he is referring to. By living in opposition to those around oneself, in engaging in this spiritual war, man is hardened without need for guns or ammunition.
In "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," Nietzsche offers the parable of the camel, the lion, and the child. This concept strikes at the core of the book and much of Nietzsche's philosophy. The camel is burdened by the expectations, hopes, and sensibilities of those around him—those who are essentially exploiting him.
In time, the camel eventually evolves into the lion. The lion tears apart the camel and its burdens, leaving only an empty space behind. The lion has the courage to explore this space and within it, the nihilistic idea of life having no meaning. This is where we can be reborn; this is where we become the child.
We can begin anew and find our own ideals and aspirations—those things which make us unique and which bring us authentic individual fulfillment. Although evocative to the point of provocation, Nietzsche reflects a profound optimism and a hope for the future. His ideas are fierce, aggressive, and immensely stimulating.
But still, there is one key that will allow us to unlock them entirely. To really understand the Übermensch, we must examine the context in which it was written. That context is a thought experiment known as eternal recurrence.
In "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," Nietzsche explores the idea that everything in the universe is fated to happen again and again into eternity. You will repeat every moment of the life you now live forever. Nietzsche never expressed that he believed this as a scientific fact, but it is presented rather as a philosophical framework by which we should live.
It is in this backdrop that we can ourselves strive to become the Übermensch. Is your life worth repeating? Are the choices you make worthy of eternity? When was the last time you did something that you would do forever?
The road to this success—to having desire for nothing except your own existence—is the Übermensch. Reject the ideals of those who hold you shackled. Reject all that which comes before you and cast off those things which burden you with obligation. Embrace the apocalypse and thrive in the chaos you will undoubtedly create.
Do not create from the ashes, but create in place of the ashes. Become what you and you alone deem worthy of the infinite. Most importantly of all, and most paradoxically of all, reject people like me. Reject those who wish to tell you how to live. Create something new.
Nietzsche, throughout his work, seemed to extol the importance of hardness—a spiritual and intellectual belligerent hardness, a hardness of being. But this was seemingly not a quality that Nietzsche himself possessed. Quite the contrary, from a young age, Nietzsche had a tremendous gift for understanding and feeling human pain.
He was described throughout his life as intensely sensitive. Nietzsche was vulnerable, shy, and tender. By his own admission, Nietzsche's love of the hard man archetype was little more than a facade. He wrote in a letter to his friend, "As for myself, I have got into a state of chronic vulnerability against which, when my condition is slightly improved, I take a sort of revenge, which is not of the nicest description. That is to say, I adopt an attitude of excessive hardness."
Nietzsche had an idyllic childhood, but it was completely demolished by the untimely death of his father. His widowed mother had two other children, so she was unable to provide the high amount of attention that the young Nietzsche would have needed in his time of suffering. As a young man, he was made to experience the death of his father fully in solitude.
In 1878, he spoke of his childhood: "We are devastated by the sight of the scenes of our childhood—the garden, the house, the church with its graves, the pond in the woods. We always see them again as sufferers; we are gripped by self-pity."
When he was just 29, Nietzsche's intellectual idol was a composer named Richard Wagner. Nietzsche worshiped him like something close to a god, even publishing a work that praised the man publicly. This man became Nietzsche's de facto father figure.
The work inflated Wagner's ego, and he persuaded Nietzsche to pen a hit piece on a writer named David Strauss. This was Wagner's feud, not Nietzsche's at all. Nietzsche had actually enjoyed Strauss's work, but from loyalty to Wagner, he went ahead with the piece.
Shortly after it was published, David Strauss died, and Nietzsche worried that his piece contributed to Strauss's demise. Not long after this incident, Wagner began to spread rumors about Nietzsche being a chronic sex addict who was going blind from masturbation.
Wagner further launched another ruthless assault on the young Nietzsche in the book "Beethoven." In 1876, Nietzsche severed ties with Wagner. This incident broke his heart and catapulted the sensitive young man into an era of emotional distress.
In the wake of this personal tragedy, Nietzsche found refuge in the love of a woman named Lou Salomé. Their romantic affair was intense and passionate, with Nietzsche saying she was "as rude as an eagle and as brave as a lion." He earnestly believed he had found his soulmate.
As it turned out, romancing with geniuses of the day was a pattern for Lou. She ultimately rejected Nietzsche, and the romance crumbled. In a photo she later flaunted around to other lovers, Lou was portrayed as a carriage driver brandishing a whip over Nietzsche himself.
At the end of this affair, Nietzsche wrote to his friend, "This last morsel of life was the hardest I have yet had to chew, and it is still possible that I shall choke on it. I am now being broken as no other man could be on the wheel of my own passions. Unless I discover the alchemical trick of turning this muck into gold, I am lost."
Nietzsche would go on to live a life plagued by psychological turmoil, eventually resulting in a complete psychotic breakdown. In "Zarathustra," he presents a hard man ideal who could endure suffering and use it to find greatness.
It has been argued that this was just a sort of persona—an aspirational abstract that Nietzsche used to cope with his own sensitivity; an ideal that Nietzsche himself fell tremendously short of. Maybe, but it seems to me that the opposite could be true.
I think that to be strong is not to forgo feelings or to be immune to them. It is instead to act because of or in spite of those feelings. Indeed, Nietzsche, with his tremendous sensitivity, did just that. When all was said and done, he did perform the alchemical trick of turning muck into gold.
Maybe he didn't live to see it, but some century and a half later, he has emerged as one of the most influential thinkers of all time. Nietzsche's writing provides us with a uniquely dangerous sort of knowledge. When stripped from its context or presented in disparate pieces, it can seem to endorse some of humanity's worst qualities.
Indeed, that has happened after his death. Nietzsche's sister allied herself with the Nazi party. She then manipulated, edited, and republished Nietzsche's work to make it extol the beliefs of the Nazis. In reality, Friedrich Nietzsche rejected both fascism and anti-Semitism, even cutting ties with his own sister over the issues.
But when approached with care and given the thought that he deserves, Nietzsche offered a euphoric, hopeful optimism. When we destroy everything, we are free. Life is a beautiful void in which we can frolic and play and seek true fulfillment, if we are brave enough to do so.
It may sound silly to say, but Nietzsche's works are remarkably nuanced. They are expressed abstractly and in ornamental language. He was not an author who provided us with a system by which to live, but rather his writing invites, requires interpretation.
So as we read Nietzsche, we are implored to reject any rigid interpretations of the work and instead create one for ourselves. "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" is a great snapshot of Nietzsche's philosophy, but it is not comprehensive. In this essay, I have not even scratched the surface of Nietzsche's works nor the secondary interpretations of them.
So in true Nietzschean spirit, I suggest you discover them for yourself.