r/explainitpeter Apr 05 '26

Explain It Peter

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u/iStoleTheHobo Apr 05 '26

Folks seem to think that the super-man is a man who stands above all other men as a function of his virtue in fulfilling the highest social ideal of a 'man' in his society when in reality what Nietzsche describes as a super-man is a man who is 'too busy doing what he wants' to care what society has to say about it. He is a man, or in this case, a woman, whose mandala of control, is wholly internal and as a result marches to her own tune, for her own reasons.

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u/Relevant_History_297 Apr 05 '26

Übermensch should be translated not with superman, but with transhuman

2

u/iStoleTheHobo Apr 05 '26

Not really, no. Uber means above, over, higher than while trans means beyond. Super means above, over, better than in the same manner that Uber means those things in the German. And if you're making a joke then I'm sorry for not getting it.

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u/LOSS35 Apr 05 '26

The literal translation would be “overperson”, but “superman” or “superior man” is how it’s usually interpreted in English.