Nietzsche's Superman Analysis

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 …show more content…
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 …show more content…
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 it always strives to heighten its potential and is founded upon the attributes of the healthiest individual who exists. It is a macroscopic version of the same sort of overcoming which occurs in the superman and is labeled healthy because weakness is discouraged in support of a medium in which strength and superiority are pushed to the level of maximum importance.
In this system the question "why live?" asked by nihilists is answered in man's striving to overcome himself. The superman sees mankind as a bridge which has no end which always stretches still further and further. Thus mankind is aware of no ultimate limits. Each life is valuable as it can serve mankind by helping to push its potential ever higher, making it that much stronger, elevating it another step out of the comparative misery which existed before this process was