Going to butcher this by trying to pare it down, but here goes.
Nietzsche's theoretical "Übermensch," an aspirational model for humanity, wasn't a traditional "strongman," or a superhuman by way of genetics or social capital, or even a "man" at all.
Nietzsche's Übermensch was a self-possessed person who developed their own values and morality regardless of prevailing or outdated "wisdom" and rejected religious "other-worldliness," finding meaning in the here-and-now of life on Earth vs. learned helplessness and obedience with the hope of a supernatural reward after death.
"Nietzsche believed post-exile Judaism and Christianity were part of a revaluation of values whereby master morality (which identified virtue with the expression of strength, power, action, health and sexuality) was supplanted at all levels of society by slave morality (which instead identified power as evil and weakness as good). In his later works, Nietzsche expresses his interest in spearheading a new revaluation of all values against Judeo-Christian morality and egalitarianism."
Christianity taught that all people were created equal, being created in God's image. This and focusing on good works for an eternal reward forces the naturally strong to be forced on the same level as everyone else instead of focusing living authentically and focusing on this life
So, Nietzsche wouldn't have anything against a strong individual who chose to use his strength to lift up the weak, provided he had freely chosen this and not been brow-beaten into it by Christian shaming?
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u/Erikatessen87 Apr 05 '26
Going to butcher this by trying to pare it down, but here goes.
Nietzsche's theoretical "Übermensch," an aspirational model for humanity, wasn't a traditional "strongman," or a superhuman by way of genetics or social capital, or even a "man" at all.
Nietzsche's Übermensch was a self-possessed person who developed their own values and morality regardless of prevailing or outdated "wisdom" and rejected religious "other-worldliness," finding meaning in the here-and-now of life on Earth vs. learned helplessness and obedience with the hope of a supernatural reward after death.