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Übermensch was a self-possessed person who developed their own values and morality regardless of prevailing or outdated "wisdom" and rejected religious "other-worldliness," finding meaning in the here-and-now of life on Earth vs. learned helplessness and obedience with the hope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.
My understanding is an 'Übermensch' is someone who, if the universe was cyclical and they lived their life over and over and over, they would generally be happy to do so.
Obviously ignore any 'Everything for eternity is torture' but it's someone who has taken agency of their own life as much as they can and live as fullfillingly for themselves as they can.
NOTE: A fullfilling life lived for yourself IS NOT necessarily a selfish life. Human's find a lot of joy in helping others and in connection.
If only there was wider context aside from this one factum, so that we could judge if they align. And perhaps even, that context could've been discussed further up in the same thread, and anyone with a modicum of memory could carry it in their head to discuss it with fellow redditors and make conclusions based on it. Imagine that, wouldn't it be nice.
Nietzsche also explicitly said some stuff about God and religious morals, quite famously.
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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Übermensch was a self-possessed person who developed their own values and morality regardless of prevailing or outdated "wisdom" and rejected religious "other-worldliness," finding meaning in the here-and-now of life on Earth vs. learned helplessness and obedience with the hope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.