User:Erictaylor202/sandbox

Friedrich Nietzsche's superman (Ubermensch)
Superman, or the superior man is the product of a man achieving self mastery and foregoes traditional christian "herd mentality" and ushers in his own set of values. Not through any form evolution.

Nietzsche considers the traits of a superman to be someone who is able to break free from the moral code set in place by churches and live by their own moral code. This gives them the ability to have a deeper sense of morality and and sense of purpose and being. They are a person who will have a set of values not influenced by those around them but solely focused on improving the society in which they live. Their sole purpose is to the betterment of humanity and they would give all they have and their lives to see this happen. A superman intends to help others break free from the moral binds that are restricting them to gain enlightenment and power.

Background
Nietzsche believed in the idea that God was dead and had abandoned us. Since there was no God there were no values for man to live by, which would bring the downfall of European humanity. According to Nietzsche, the rise of the superman was essential to rescuing the European culture. The death of God made it possible for the rise of the superior man.

Nietzsche considered his idea of superman as a gift to humankind. It taught them to love something higher than themselves and hate themselves as humans. He taught that there were two paths that mankind could follow. The first leading to the superman and the second leading to the "last man." Which is a person who is selfish and will only do or create something if it is beneficial for themselves. His ideas were not popular among the people in Europe at the time and his ideas were first rejected. The second path is more rewarding because it leads to becoming a superman, but much more dangerous and difficult. This is because a superman can only be achieved from the destruction of European civilization.

Nietzsche considered man not to be a stagnate and concrete state, but a metamorphosis and ever changing process from beast to superman. It consisted of, the last man, to a transition from, transition from the camel-spirited, to the lion-spirited, to the child-spirited and finally into superman. The following is a representation of Nietzsche's idea.

MAN

Beast:      Last     Man     Camel    Lion    Child     :Superman

Your position on the scale is determined by your liveliness and one can increase in power as they move to the right and decrease in power as they move to the left. As one moves to the left they are becoming more selfish and and only concerned about what will help themselves. As one moves to the right they become more aware of society and their desire to help and improve it will increase and become their purpose of existing.

The Will to Power
Nietzsche's intention for the book was much different when what was published. His intention for his book was to express the purpose of life. He stated, "once there is life, there is will to power because life is only alive if it is intensified." He wanted to express that it does not matter what you do with your life, it is all experience and that nothing is impossible and that the purpose of life is to increase from where you are and have an increased sense of power. Those who wish to destroy life are those who rely on God's will.

After Nietzsche's death, his sister Elisabeth and a German editor name Peter Gast published a book on his behalf. They went through old and unfinished notes to put together a final masterpiece. If Nietzsche would have been alive and written the book himself (which would not have happened due to the fact that he had abandoned the project) it would have gone a much different direction. The book as it is today is not entirely correct and considered a huge misrepresentation of Nietzsche's ideas.

Nazi Interpretation
Due to Nietzsche's sister, Elisabeth the misrepresentation in his book, The Will to Power, it was suggested that he was in favor of Eugenics which was breeding to form a master race. During World War II the Nazis took this idea as inspiration for their conquest to take control of other countries in order to form a superior race.

Nietzsche's idea of superman was a form of self mastery and improving yourself as an individual and in a way, unattainable. Due to the misrepresentation presented in his book, The Will to Power, the Nazis took the idea of Ubermensch to support their idea of "Aryan-supremacy." Through these two complementing ideas the Nazis considered themselves as a superior race.

Though all of this misinterpretation and his works, Nietzsche is often given credit for the National Socialism movement in Germany that began in the 1930’s. Despite that fact that Nietzsche was greatly apposed to German racism.