Nietzsche's Concept Of Superman

The idea of the superman in Nietzsche's works is a fundamental element as he uses it as an establishment from which to attempt to challenge the fixed values of society. These values behind what is considered to be good and evil, he confirms, having been founded on the Christian faith serve only to hamper human potential and have no basis on the everyday experiences. His aim is to show us that for society to be able to live up to its true potential we need a new system of values which is more suited to our needs. In rejecting the idea of a God who gives values changeless and magnificent of the everyday world he gives us superman, a real individual who creates values which are confidently fixed in the everyday changing world. This is someone who, by trusting his own sense of what is good and evil succeeds better than any other. It is argued that only by following his example can we hope to improve ourselves and our society. Is the necessity of overthrowing the existing established values justified in Nietzsche's principle, and does he in fact prove that his alternatives are any better.

Mankind, in order to justify its existence, has always required some belief in a higher purpose in life. People are never satisfied with the idea that there is no meaning in anything they do or accomplish. Without such a belief, life becomes impossible to accept as the question asked by nihilism is continually before one, "why live at all?"

Nietzsche dismisses this answer to nihilism. As effective as it is he finds fault with it in that it serves to make one feel ashamed of himself and the world. In so doing this belief extinguishes an individual's hope of fully realizing his own powers and strengths as such things are viewed in a negative light as being worldly thus evil. Nietzsche holds that such restraint tends to weaken an individual making him sickly and weak physically and psychologically; such a thing imposed upon society would naturally lead to a sick and weak population. Not seeing any overall gain in a system of beliefs which teaches suppression, he purposes to give us a new one which is not only said to be as effective but also frees them of Christianity's binds. With his principle of the superman Nietzsche seeks to give us values that at the same time, create a medium where power is realized and strength flourishes, and define a purpose for life.

The superman is someone who in discovering himself he discovers that it is in his best interests to reject any outside philosophy about values, trusting rather what he finds within himself. He creates his own good and evil, based on that which helps him to succeed or fail. In this way good is something which helps one to realize his potential and evil is whatever hampers or stands in the way of this effort. Since to Nietzsche everything in the world, including good and evil is temporary. everything is being continually reinvented. The superman embraces this idea of change which to him appears evident , he understands the fact that since there is nothing in the world which is permanent whatever exists must eventually be overcome by something else which comes along. Seeing himself and his values in the same light he knows that these aspects must also be overcome by something stronger if not by him than by someone or something else. So in order to keep up with the times he continuously reinvents himself over and over always building something stronger, more powerful, on top of what went before. The superman therefore is the ideal of someone who has mastered the practice of overcoming himself

It is from the example of the superman that we are intended to see how much is actually realistic in the world. The values he creates he continually tests himself always refining them to be better and better still. In this way they rise above the values of the masses (the weaker, the unwise) until they arrive at the top and being superior to any other they serve as the guidelines for the rest of society. They remain on top until another superior system of values comes along and usurps it. In this way a society is created which, by allowing the stronger to succeed, promotes strength. Nietzsche deems this a healthy society as