“Nietzsche’s Ubermensch in our Contemporary world”

Ray Gene Bulan

AB-Philo 4

Rationale

This thesis aims to determine Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch (over man) in our

Contemporary world. This is premised on the idea of Nietzsche’s Ubermensch that really exists

nowadays. Some would say that the idea of Nietzsche is against the Christian world and its

hierarchies. Nietzsche’s Ubermensch was misinterpreted by some scholars and philosophers, most

especially by the Nazis which leads them to kill the Jews. Because the Nazis’ thought it was all

about killing in order to gain power.

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher and a thinker known of his famous maxims

like ‘God is dead’. It is one of the most significant quote who made him popular, especially for

those who criticized him. This thesis will help everyone not only to correct but to enlighten them

from their interpretation and understanding that made Nietzsche’s idea erroneous. This thesis could

be a great help for those who wanted to study about Nietzsche’s philosophy, knowing that he is

one of the philosophers who are difficult to understand the ideas. Because the ideas of Nietzsche

established a lot of things that made the readers to misinterpret the text that he have written.

The Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the greatest philosophical masterpiece of Nietzsche, is a

literary fiction wherein he presented his powerful expression of philosophical ideas. The central

character in the story, Zarathustra was named after “Zarathustra in Persian and Zoroaster in Greek,

the founder of a Persian religion Zoroastrianism.”1 Nietzsche presented in this book the errors of

1
Cf. www.britannica.com Accessed on 17 July 2019.
Western Culture as presented by Kaufman and traces them way back to the Persian prophet, “the

first to conceptualize the one god, whom he referred to as Abura Mazda or the wise lord, and the

first to portray the entire cosmos as a conflict between good and evil gods and also, first to conceive

the judgment day at the end of the world when the good will be rewarded with eternal life.”2

As the story of Thus Spoke Zarathustra unfolds it discussed three important ideas. First is

the notion of the over man or superman (Ubermensch), one who has gained complete power over

himself, so that he is entirely a creation of his own will. His character, his values, his spirit are all

exactly as he has willed them to be. In that sense, the over man is totally free and absolutely

powerful.

The second is the notion of the will to power, the fundamental drive of all things.

Everything must obey something, and if one can’t obey oneself, one must obey someone else. The

will to power does not only apply to beings, but also to ideas, religion, morality, truth, and other

concepts are subject to the same struggle for power that dominates life.

And third is the notion of eternal recurrence, suggest that the universe is in a constant

change, so that there is no such thing as being, there is only a state of becoming.

The main theme of the story, expressed in Zarathustra’s first address to the people after

coming down from the mountain cave, is the transformation or further evolution of humankind.

The story unfolding in the text involves also Zarathustra’s own struggle and transformation.

The author speaks of a transformation, the further evolution of humankind. Humanity so

far is portrayed as a polluted stream. The source of this pollution is the longing for eternity, a

denial of this life, which leads the soul to look contemptuously upon the body and all of the earth.

2
Cf. www.britannica.com Accessed on July 17 2019.
Through the Ubermensch (over man) this sickness will be overcome. The tightrope image is used

to portray the precarious situation of modern man in the wake of the “death of God” man is left on

a tightrope over an abyss. Man is the rope between ape an Over man, the bridge not the destination.

What Zarathustra loves in man is that he is going over and going under.

Research Objectives

This research will allow us to know Ubermensch that most of us should know that if it

really exists in our Contemporary world. Given this arguments, the aims of this study are the

following:

1. What is Will to Power?

2. What is Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch (over man)?

3. What is the status of our Contemporary world?

4. Do Ubermensch (over man) really exists in our Contemporary world?

The following discusses the literature on Ubermensch relation to the four objectives of the

study. As previously, mentioned that most of the scholars, philosophers and readers misinterpreted

Nietzsche’s idea of Ubermensch. It is significant to analyze if Ubermensch really do exist in our

Contemporary world.

Scope and Limitation

This thesis will focus only on Nietzsche’s Ubermensch in our Contemporary world. It does

not intend to present the whole of Nietzsche’s thought; rather, it will only focus on his theory

Ubermensch. However, the researcher will refer to his important works in order to fully understand
his theory and its relevance to our Contemporary world. But the researcher will discuss first,

Nietzsche’s Will to Power in order to understand deeply his idea of Ubermensch (over man).

Moreover thesis will only focus on the Contemporary world where Nietzsche’s

Ubermensch (over man) do exists. The researcher believes that it definitely helps if more journals

will be discovered about Ubermensch in our Contemporary world.

Methodology

In the first phase, this study will make use of hermeneutic method in presenting Nietzsche’s

Ubermensch. In the second phase, the study will employ an evidence and journals. In the third

phase, a critical and method will be employed in Nietzsche’s Ubermensch in our Contemporary

world. And lastly, an analytical evaluation method will be utilized in order to give an idea that

Ubermensch really exists in our Contemporary world.