Whose philosophical ideal of ubermensch or superman was adopted and distorted by the Nazis?
"name ""Herbert S. Fine"", combining the first name of a cousin with his mother's maiden name. The term ""Superman"" derives from a common English translation of the term ""Übermensch"", which originated with Friedrich Nietzsche's statement, """"Ich lehre euch den Übermenschen"""" (""I will teach you all the Superman""), in his 1883 work ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"". The term ""Superman"" was popularized by George Bernard Shaw with his 1903 play ""Man and Superman"". The character Jane Porter refers to Tarzan as a ""superman"" in the 1912 pulp novel ""Tarzan of the Apes"" by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Siegel would later name Tarzan as"
"Übermensch The Übermensch (German for ""Beyond-Man"", ""Superman"", ""Overman"", ""Superhuman"", ""Hyperman"", ""Hyperhuman""; ) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. In his 1883 book ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"" (), Nietzsche has his character Zarathustra posit the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself. It is a work of philosophical allegory, with a structural similarity to the Gathas of Zoroaster/Zarathustra. In 1896, Alexander Tille made the first English translation of ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"", rendering ""Übermensch"" as ""Beyond-Man"". In 1909, Thomas Common translated it as ""Superman"", following the terminology of George Bernard Shaw's 1903 stage play ""Man and Superman""."
"following Jesus. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of an ""Übermensch"" (""Overman"") was that of a New Man who would be a leader by example to humanity through an existentialist will to power that was vitalist and irrationalist in nature. Nietzsche developed the concept in response to his view of the herd mentality of and inherent nihilism of Christianity, and the void in existential meaning that is realized with the death of God. The Übermensch emerges as the new meaning of the Earth, a norm-repudiating individual who overcomes himself and is the master in control of his impulses and passions. Thomas Paine"
"parallels between Hitler's and Nietzsche's titanic anti-egalitarianism, and the idea of the ""übermensch"", a term which was frequently used by Hitler and Mussolini to refer to the so-called ""Aryan race"", or rather, its projected future after fascist engineering. Alfred Rosenberg, an influential Nazi ideologist, also delivered a speech in which he related National Socialism to Nietzsche's ideology. Broadly speaking, despite Nietzsche's hostility towards anti-semitism and nationalism, the Nazis made very selective use of Nietzsche's philosophy, and eventually, this association caused Nietzsche's reputation to suffer following World War II. On the other hand, it is known that Mussolini early on heard"
"of ""Aryan descent"". The Slavs (along with Gypsies and Jews) were defined as being racially inferior and non-Aryan ""Untermenschen"", and were thus considered to be a danger to the ""Aryan"" or Germanic master race. According to the Nazi secret Hunger Plan and ""Generalplan Ost"", the Slavic population was to be removed from Central Europe through expulsion, enslavement, starvation, and extermination, except for a small percentage who were deemed to be non-Slavic descendants of Germanic settlers, and thus suitable for Germanisation. The ""Übermensch"" (German) (""Overman"" or ""Superman"") is a concept in the philosophy of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche—he posited the ""Übermensch"""
"as class beings; as creative personalities, not as 'proletarians,' as self-affirming individuals, not as 'masses'. . .(the) economic component must be humanized precisely by bringing an 'affinity of friendship' to the work process, by diminishing the role of onerous work in the lives of producers, indeed by a total 'transvaluation of values' (to use Nietzsche's phrase) as it applies to production and consumption as well as social and personal life."" Notes Bibliography Übermensch The Übermensch (German for ""Beyond-Man"", ""Superman"", ""Overman"", ""Superhuman"", ""Hyperman"", ""Hyperhuman""; ) is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. In his 1883 book ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"""
"slightly above the Romani and finally the Jews. An ""Untermensch"" would be stripped of all his/her rights, treated as an animal, deemed to have a ""Lebensunwertes Leben"" (life unworthy of living) and fit only for enslavement and extermination. Nazi ideology taught the German youth during school to understand the differences between the Nordic German ""Übermenschen"" and ""ignoble"" Jewish and Slavic ""subhumans"". Pseudoscientist and Nazi geneticist Hans Günther, on whom Hitler based much of his ideology, wrote extensively about the supposed racial origins of the Poles and other West Slavs. Originally, the West Slavs were supposed to be Nordic, but were"
"Walter Kaufmann lambasted this translation in the 1950s for two reasons: first, the failure of the English prefix ""super"" to capture the nuance of the German ""über"" (though in Latin, its meaning of ""above"" or ""beyond"" is closer to the German); and second, for promoting misidentification of Nietzsche's concept with the comic-book character Superman (whom Fredric Wertham described as ""un-American and fascist""). Kaufmann and others preferred to translate ""Übermensch"" as ""overman"". Scholars continue to employ both terms, some simply opting to reproduce the German word. The German prefix ""über"" can have connotations of superiority, transcendence, excessiveness, or intensity, depending on"
"concept was appropriated by some Nazis such as Alfred Bäumler, who may have drawn influence from it or used it to justify their expansive quest for power. This reading was criticized by Martin Heidegger in his 1930s courses on Nietzsche—suggesting that raw physical or political power was not what Nietzsche had in mind. This is reflected in the following passage from Nietzsche's notebooks: Opposed to a biological and voluntary conception of the ""Wille zur Macht"", Heidegger also argued that the will to power must be considered in relation to the ""Übermensch"" and the ""thought of eternal recurrence""—although this reading itself"
"Superhuman Superhuman qualities are qualities that exceed those found in humans. The ""Übermensch"" or ""Superman"" was postulated by Friedrich Nietzsche as a type of supreme, ultra-aristocratic achievement which becomes possible in the transcendence of modernity, morals or nihilism. In transhumanism and futurology, superhuman abilities are the technological aim either of human enhancement by genetic modification or cybernetic implants or of future superhuman artificial intelligence. Speculation about human nature and the possibilities of both human enhancement and future human evolution have made superhumans a popular subject of science fiction. Superhuman abilities are also associated with the genre of superheroes. Human enhancement"
"embodied the sense of the Übermensch for Nietzsche. According to Safranski, Nietzsche intended the ultra-aristocratic figure of the Übermensch to serve as a Machiavellian bogeyman of the modern Western middle class and its pseudo-Christian egalitarian value system. The Übermensch shares a place of prominence in ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"" with another of Nietzsche's key concepts: the eternal recurrence of the same. Several interpretations for this fact have been offered. Laurence Lampert suggests that the eternal recurrence replaces the Übermensch as the object of serious aspiration. This is in part due to the fact that even the Übermensch can appear like an"
"superior Aryan or Germanic master race; a racial version of Nietzsche's Übermensch became a philosophical foundation for National Socialist ideas. The Nazi notion of the master race also spawned the idea of ""inferior humans"" (""Untermenschen"") who should be dominated and enslaved; this term does not originate with Nietzsche, who was critical of both antisemitism and German nationalism. In his final years, Nietzsche began to believe that he was in fact Polish, not German, and was quoted as saying, ""I am a pure-blooded Polish nobleman, without a single drop of bad blood, certainly not German blood"". In defiance of nationalist doctrines,"
"Although Buber did believe that to truly grow fond of Nietzsche one must desert him. Chaim Weizmann, leader of the Zionist movement and future first president of the State of Israel, was influenced by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Weizmann believed that the Jews lacked power, and in Zionism he saw a phenomena that would steer the Jews toward power and freeing themselves. Whether Weizmann’s intention was conscious or not, it relates to Nietzsche’s idea of Übermensch. Although Weizmann did believe the Jews contained sufficient intellect to understand and incorporate the writings of Nietzsche into their lives. Weizmann believed this"
"political philosophies of fascism, which was also just beginning to bud at that time. Futurism was thereby abandoned after 1920, and political regions became increasingly fervent as Mussolini came into power shortly thereafter. Mussolini, after having been elected to power in 1922, created a myth of himself, craftily adapting the image of the Übermensch of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to the Italian ""forma mentis"", which was grounded in the following credo: absolutely hegemony over life and death and good and evil. Mussolini underlined how Nietzsche had advocated an imminent return to the ideal, stating that 'a new kind of ""free"
"of thought from Marx"". The one contemporary politician he admires above all others is Benito Mussolini. The temptation is to see this difficult little book as an advocate for what was to come, but this gap between the ideal vision and the historical truth is virtually unbridgeable. On the eve of publication Moeller van den Bruck inserted a preface, in which he wrote that ""The Third Reich is a philosophical idea not for this but for the next world. Germany might perish because of the Third Reich dream."" He believes Germany needs an ""Übermensch"" (Superman) in the fashion described by"
"of gravity or asceticism. Still others suggest that one must have the strength of the Übermensch in order to will the eternal recurrence of the same; that is, only the Übermensch will have the strength to fully accept all of his past life, including his failures and misdeeds, and to truly will their eternal return. This action nearly kills Zarathustra, for example, and most human beings cannot avoid other-worldliness because they really are sick, not because of any choice they made. The term Übermensch was used frequently by Hitler and the Nazi regime to describe their idea of a biologically"
"creative and strong enough to master the whole spectrum of human potential, good and ""evil"", to become an ""artist-tyrant"". In ""Ecce Homo"", Nietzsche vehemently denied any idealistic, democratic or humanitarian interpretation of the Übermensch: ""The word Übermensch [designates] a type of supreme achievement, as opposed to 'modern' men, 'good' men, Christians, and other nihilists ... When I whispered into the ears of some people that they were better off looking for a Cesare Borgia than a Parsifal, they did not believe their ears."" Safranski argues that the combination of ruthless warrior pride and artistic brilliance that defined the Italian Renaissance"
"as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"" (). However, Nietzsche never developed the concept on racial grounds. Instead, the ""Übermensch"" ""seems to be the ideal aim of spiritual development more than a biological goal"". Nazism distorted the real meaning behind the concept to fit its 'master race' view. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was posited that the Indo-Europeans (then generally also referred to as Aryans) made up the highest branch of humanity because their civilization was the most technologically advanced. This reasoning simultaneously intertwined with Nordicism which"
"an overarching goal of humanity. These goals help one overcome life's feeling of meaninglessness. This idea of bettering one's self, for humanity, developed within the philosophy of Nazi Germany. The Nazi philosophy of the master race, revolved around the concept of creating a perfect race, often referred to as the Aryan race. This was projected onto the people as a way of purifying their society, to create a Germanic master race, in which Übermensch became a core philosophy. By creating a philosophy that defined the superior and the inferior human, people began to classify those around them as such. Nietzsche"
"fans protested Cumberbatch's casting as Khan, believing that a person of Indian descent should have been given the role instead. Superficially, Khan has been compared to Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of the ""Übermensch"" (superman or overman). Khan is mentally and physically superior to any normal human. In the """" episode """", Malik, the leader of a group of ""supermen"" created from the same genetic engineering project as Khan, quotes Nietzsche, telling Archer that ""Mankind is something to be surpassed"". Professor William J. Devlin and coauthor Shai Biderman examined Khan's character compared to the Übermensch and found that Khan's blind pursuit of"
"which he translated into German under the title ""The Eternal Jew"". Rosenberg got the racial term ""Untermensch"" from the title of Stoddard's 1922 book ""The Revolt Against Civilization: The Menace of the Under-man"", which had been adopted by the Nazis from that book's German version ""Der Kulturumsturz: Die Drohung des Untermenschen"" (1925). Rosenberg reshaped Nazi racial policy over the years, but it always consisted of Aryan supremacy, extreme German nationalism and rabid antisemitism. Rosenberg also outspokenly opposed homosexuality – notably in his pamphlet ""Der Sumpf"" (""The Swamp"", 1927). He viewed homosexuality as a hindrance to the expansion of the Nordic"
"adopted Nietzsche's term, using it in his descriptions of an Aryan master race. It was in this context that American Jewish comic book creator Jerry Siegel encountered the term and conceived the 1933 story ""The Reign of the Superman"", in which the superman (not to be confused with his later superhero character) is ""an evil mastermind with advanced mental powers"". Shortly afterward, Siegel and artist Joseph Shuster recast Superman into the iconic American hero he subsequently became. It is through this association with the superhero that the term ""über"" carries much of its English sense implying irresistibility or invincibility. The"
"interpretation. Kaufmann writes that he ""aims at a comprehensive reconstruction of Nietzsche's thought"". He attempts to discredit a ""Nietzsche legend"" consisting of a variety of false beliefs about Nietzsche, such as the idea that he was a ""proto-Nazi"". He argues that Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche and the poet Stefan George are among those responsible for the legend, and that the rise of Nazism helped spread misconceptions about Nietzsche. He compares Nietzsche's ideas to those of existentialism, and discusses views of Nietzsche held by the philosophers Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers. Writing in a 1974 appendix, Kaufmann criticizes the philosopher Jürgen"
"book's German version ""Der Kulturumsturz: Die Drohung des Untermenschen"" (1925). The German word ""Untermensch"" had been used earlier, but not in a racial sense, for example in the 1899 novel ""Der Stechlin"" by Theodor Fontane. Since most writers who employed the term did not address the question of when and how the word entered the German language, ""Untermensch"" is usually translated into English as ""sub-human."" The leading Nazi attributing the concept of the East-European ""under man"" to Stoddard is Alfred Rosenberg who, referring to Russian communists, wrote in his ""Der Mythus des 20. Jahrhunderts"" (1930) that ""this is the kind"
"past actions (Nehamas 153). Nietzsche's thought is the negation of the idea of a history of salvation. Another concept important to an understanding of Nietzsche's thought is the ""Übermensch"" Developing the idea of nihilism, Nietzsche wrote ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"", therein introducing the concept of a value-creating Übermensch, not as a project, but as an anti-project, the absence of any project. According to Lampert, ""the death of God must be followed by a long twilight of piety and nihilism (II. 19; III. 8). Zarathustra's gift of the overman is given to a mankind not aware of the problem to which the"
"lectures about Nietzsche, Vilfred Pareto, and others in ideologically forming fascism. A girlfriend of Mussolini, Margherita Sarfatti, who was Jewish, relates that Nietzsche virtually was the transforming factor in Mussolini's ""conversion"" from hard socialism to spiritualistic, ascetic fascism,: ""In 1908 he presented his conception of the superman's role in modern society in a writing on Nietzsche entitled, ""The Philosophy of Force."" Nietzsche's influence on Continental philosophy increased dramatically after the Second World War. During the 19th century, Nietzsche was frequently associated with anarchist movements, in spite of the fact that in his writings he definitely holds a negative view of"
"the words to which it is attached. ""Mensch"" refers to a human being, rather than a male specifically. The adjective ""übermenschlich"" means super-human: beyond human strength or out of proportion to humanity. Nietzsche introduces the concept of the Übermensch in contrast to his understanding of the other-worldliness of Christianity: Zarathustra proclaims the will of the Übermensch to give meaning to life on earth, and admonishes his audience to ignore those who promise other-worldly fullfillment to draw them away from the earth. The turn away from the earth is prompted, he says, by a dissatisfaction with life that causes the sufferer"
"his trial to have an ordinary and common personality while displaying neither guilt nor hatred. She suggested that this most strikingly discredits the idea that the Nazi criminals were manifestly psychopathic and fundamentally different from ordinary people. The idea that Adolf Eichmann — or, indeed, the majority of Nazis or of those working in such regimes — actually fit this concept has been criticized by those who contend that Eichmann and the majority of Nazis were in fact deeply ideological and extremely anti-Semitic, with Eichmann in particular having been fixated on and obsessed with the Jews from a young age."
"the racial term ""Untermensch"" from the title of Klansman Lothrop Stoddard's 1922 book ""The Revolt Against Civilization: The Menace of the Under-man"". It was later adopted by the Nazis from that book's German version ""Der Kulturumsturz: Die Drohung des Untermenschen"" (1925). Rosenberg was the leading Nazi who attributed the concept of the East-European ""under man"" to Stoddard. An advocate of the U.S. immigration laws that favored Northern Europeans, Stoddard wrote primarily on the alleged dangers posed by ""colored"" peoples to white civilization, and wrote ""The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy"" in 1920. In establishing a restrictive entry system"
"eugenics. This is most pronounced when considered in the aspect of a goal that humanity sets for itself. The reduction of all psychology to physiology implies, to some, that human beings can be bred for cultural traits. This interpretation of Nietzsche's doctrine focuses more on the future of humanity than on a single cataclysmic individual. There is no consensus regarding how this aspect of the Übermensch relates to the creation of new values. For Rüdiger Safranski, the Übermensch represents a higher biological type reached through artificial selection and at the same time is also an ideal for anyone who is"
"Germanic/Aryan superiority in ""Mein Kampf"" with: The ""völkisch"" nationalism of Hitler and Nazis encompassed the notion that the German ""Volk"" was epitomized by German farmers and peasants, people who remained uncorrupted by modern ideals and whose greatest attribute was their ""cheerful subservience"" and their capacity to respond to their ""monarchical calling."" Hitler was their new 'monarch' in a manner of speaking. ""Völkisch"" nationalism also forged into its ideals, the importance of nature, the centrality of a knightly savior (Hitler in this case), and the belief in the superior Aryan. Antisemitism remained a key component of the ""völkisch"" movement and a"
"Super-humanism Superhumanism as is defined as ""the ability of humans to go above and beyond the general expectations and realities of humankind"". This can be accomplished through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. Historical outlooks on superhumanism are viewed as finding the ideal human in physical, mental as well as spiritual form, and has influenced politics, policy, philosophers, scientists and movements. Well documented historical applications of this philosophy can be found in the events of Nazi Germany during World War II. Modern depictions of this have evolved and are shown through the comic book ideal of superheroes like Superman, or"
"In ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"", Nietzsche posits the (often translated as ""overman"" or ""superman"") as a goal that humanity can set for itself. While interpretations of Nietzsche's overman vary wildly, here are a few of his quotes from ""Thus Spoke Zarathustra"": I teach you the Übermensch. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? ... All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock"