1. What do you think Nietzsche meant by the Ubermensch?
2. Do you think any fictional characters possess these qualities?
How about Falstaff?
1. What do you think Nietzsche meant by the Ubermensch?
2. Do you think any fictional characters possess these qualities?
How about Falstaff?
He didn't mean a Master race of men as the Nazi's interpreted the word.
I think he meant the next stage in the evolution of mankind, given that God is dead, so we are no longer judged or regarded as fallen creatures.
As for a fictional Übermensch, Harry Potter? (just kidding)
I believe Nietzsche meant a man who is still a man but has qualities unthinkable to the man of the now. These qualities would be probably built upon the lack or dissatisfaction-basically disapproval of what the man of now relies on.
I honestly can' think of any fictional characters that sync up with my definition of ze Übermensch. In Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf, Harry Haller is oddly close to Nietzsche's super man, but I wouldn't say so in the end...
I AM THE BOY
THAT CAN ENJOY
INVISIBILITY.
Nietzsche's superman, as a character, is the Zarathustra he created. I can see Falstaff having a little bit in common, but I think its a bit of a stretch to be honest!
"I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche
How about Helmholtz from Brave New World. Everything seems to come easily for him, and yet he is above the pleasures of success and chooses to leave them behind in exchange for truth.
Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?
interesting comments and as far as the evolution of a superhumam being fictionalized i would envision something along the line of a cylon from bsg, ai or extraterrestrial hybrid.