By Ayesha Vaneeza - Pakistan
“Where is God? God is dead. God remains dead and we have killed him.”
In the late 19th century, an esoteric philosopher published one of his most controversial books, which stood out to be an audacious move in the face of the world at that time. The book announced this very non-conforming and agitating phrase about the death of God. His brilliant insight, to date, has generated a great deal of fascination and intellectual discussion, contributing to broad and critical views on religion.
In his famous statement, "God is dead," Friedrich Nietzsche introduced a radical idea that goes against the foundation of all religions and essentially calls into question their existence. The passing away of God meant the passing away of meaning, morality, and solace in this chaotic world. However, from this disorder, Nietzsche did not advocate hopelessness — he advocated change, the Übermensch, a different and new human, taught by the Will to Power to create his own values (Prideaux 256-260).
Nietzsche presented his idea of the Übermensch as the next phase of human evolution in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The Übermensch stands for something far deeper than a superhero: this is someone who has broken free from the bonds of traditional morality, gone beyond the bounds of the commonplace, and forged their way in a world devoid of divine direction. The Übermensch is a unique person who functions without God and establishes his values in a world where "God is dead" and traditional values are disintegrating.
To understand what drove Nietzche to develop this thinking pattern, it is crucial to remember how social structures are designed to favour certain people over others. A prominent example of this is the social class hierarchy because certain people have amassed greater wealth than others owing to inherent advantages, which have allowed them to hold a disproportionate amount of power. According to Nietzsche, the working class is the "slave," and the elite is the "master" of society (Diamond). Nietzsche denied the "the harder you work, the bigger the prize" cliche. The social structure stayed intact due to a "master morality," the elite's belief that they deserve to be at the top, which is why they are there. The virtues of domination and power are valued by master morality (Haidt). On the other hand, the virtues of sacrifice and obedience are embraced by slave morality. While slave morality advocates for equality, master morality creates hierarchy and supports monarchy (Beyond Good and Evil 204-237); these ideas were legitimized first by religion. Some examples include the Hindu caste system under which birth into a particular class was a consequence of an evil reincarnation. Feminists draw on this thought pattern by showing how the traditional family structure gives women subjugative roles, labelling it their spiritual responsibility, which has stripped them of decision-making for centuries.
Europe saw the rise of a new religion in the 17th century that would be far more potent. Because they had proof to support their claims, natural philosophers became increasingly well-liked. People began to doubt their own beliefs that were not backed up by evidence, and the evidence became the new God value. As the world changed, reality and religion were overwhelmed by the new god, science. This scientific revolution consequently diminished the supremacy of spiritual religions. As a result, ideological faiths such as democracy, nationalism, communism, or colonialism were able to flourish. But what would happen to us if, after a while, the ideologies also fall apart and we are left in a chasm of chaos with nothing to live by? Nietzsche was concerned because spiritual religions provided something that ideological religions did not: infallibility (Bentzen). Ideological religions are more likely to fall, be toppled, or be disproven than spiritual religions. Nietzsche viewed all ideologies disagreeable and was never captivated by either religion. Since Nietzsche foresaw the impending battle between the ideologies based on master and slave morality, all of these constructs were bound to clash with one another and have the potential to produce more violence than they resolved (Nietzsche). As a result, they would inflict enormous destruction on society. What then needs to be done by a person or a society to maintain its existence under such conditions?
Enter the Übermensch, our hero. The characteristics of an Übermensch are that he has overcome his internal conflicts and weaknesses; by creating his own values he’s not bound or dependent on the worldly notions of values and norms. He embraces all aspects of life rather than being an escapist . ‘Our desire to escape all forms of suffering can prevent us from flourishing; this is the core of Nietzsche’s insight’ (JONAS and YACEK). Übermensch is a selfishly strategic person who can hunt for people in pursuit of great things and makes suffering a necessary component of life, keeping in mind that he is never envious of others and takes pride in his ability. Nietzsche always believed that all of us should have a sense of what we would like to be if we could be a super version of ourselves. The important question therefore is, how do we reachÜbermensch
In his book, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche describes 3 stages after which an individual becomes the Superman. These 3 stages of progression are laid out as Camel, Lion and Child respectively.
The first stage is the symbol of self-discipline and renunciation of comfort just like a camel who always lives in perilous and harsh terrains. This is the first stage of human development in the eyes of Nietzsche where he greatly emphasises suffering. “You must be ready to burn in your own flame; how could you rise anew if you have not first become ashes”.
The second stage, Lion, incorporates independence and breaking free from any external influences. However, the second transformation takes place in the most isolated desert, when the spirit transforms into a lion that will triumph over his freedom and rule his desert. The battle that breaks out between you and the outside world at this point is a step towards becoming better than others in terms of morality and values; you are freed from external pressures and have earned self-confidence.
The last stage, Child, necessitates self-reconstruction and rewiring because social values and your current moral code stifle your true self, rendering you unproductive. According to Nietzsche, "A child is innocent and forgetting, a new beginning, a game, a wheel rolling out of its cell, a first movement.” A sacred yes is what starts the child stage, which is when one begins to recreate oneself. As for a child, creation is part of its nature.
The idea here is that a stunted mind, filled with religious fanaticism, superstition, and social values, can never become an Übermensch. Another highly pertinent lesson that follows after the 3 stages, which Zarathustra imparts to humanity is the rejection of uniformity, which encourages mediocrity. Zarathustra is a harsh critic of the establishment's erroneous beliefs, which hollow out people by domesticating them. In essence, he supports man's ability to set higher goals for himself and pursue them with vigour. Nietzsche imagines in Zarathustra the stagnant life of individuals who submit to the values of the larger establishment, which ultimately results in the erosion of authenticity, while those who aim higher and confront uncertainty have the potential to become Übermensch. Being a radical critic of Christian morality, he sees it as life-denying and promotes virtues like modesty, humility, and sympathy, which are meant to advance equality in society at the expense of excellence and to promote mediocrity rather than greatness.
This life-affecting philosophy is indeed an interesting piece of Nietzsche which, at that time, was barely recognised. With his health declining so rapidly, he would constantly face misinterpretation and omission of his work, and it was not until after his death in 1900 that his ideas began to gain widespread influence, yet they were misquoted by the Nazi regimes to support their ideology, i.e., notwithstanding Nietzsche's personal opposition to nationalism, anti-Semitism, and authoritarianism, the Übermensch was employed to symbolise power as the pinnacle of domination. Nevertheless, he did unintentionally allow opportunities to raise some concerns against his ideology. For example, for the concept of Übermensch, Nietzsche may not have articulated in extensive detail the essence of an Übermensch, but we can only see a hazy notion of self-mastery being psychologically powerful and defining personal morality. However, if we are not supermen at the moment and have never encountered such a being, how could we possibly know what an Übermensch would be? Nietzsche is trying to explain a higher evolved human but how can a lesser evolved human, without having been contacted to such a superior existence, become them? Is Übermensch therefore a fantasy, or Nietzsche’s personal opinion on what a superhuman would be?
With his bold proclamations and rebellious philosophy, Nietzsche still provokes the idea of individuality and unconventionally promotes the notion of the higher self-being in the modern era. He turned his suffering into a powerful philosophical vision that encouraged individuals to embrace struggle, reject mediocrity and create their own meaning. He saw life as an opportunity to manifest the highest potential of a human being rather than mere survival. Whereas it appears to be an enlightening assessment of the world, Nietzsche's philosophy may as well merely be a fantasy about a non-existent greater being.
Bibliography
Bentzen, Jeanet Sinding. “Acts of God? Religiosity and Natural Disasters Across Subnational World Districts.” University of Copenhagen Department of Economics Discussion Paper, no. 15-06, 2015, p. 66. SSRN.
Diamond, Jared. “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race.” Discover Magazine, 1 May 1999, https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-worst-mistake-in-the-history-of-the-human-race.
Jonas, Mark E., and Douglas W. Yacek. “The Problem of Student Disengagement: Struggle, Escapism and Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy.” Philosophical Inquiry in Education, vol. 26, no. 1, 2019, pp. 24–45.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond Good and Evil. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1989.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Ecce Homo. Translated by R. J. Hollingdale, Penguin Publishing Group, 1992.
Prideaux, Sue. I Am Dynamite! A Life of Nietzsche. Crown, 2018.
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