What is Superman:
The idea of the superman comes from the philosophical thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, who defines this being as that transcendental individual capable of creating and establishing his or her individual value system.
The word superman is translated from the German term used by Nietzsche übermenschwhich can also be translated as ‘supraman’.
Apparently, the idea of the superman arose in said philosopher after reading the essay titled The only one and his propertypublished by Max Stirner in 1844.
The conception of the superman proposed by Nietzsche refers to the man capable of surpassing himself and his nature.
That is, it is about that human being who breaks with moral traditionsimposed by Christianity, in order to achieve the freedom of its essence.
This way, the free man has the possibility of establishing his own values and determine what you consider good or bad from your perception.
This can lead to nihilism and breaks with what Nietzsche called “slave morality” generated by traditional values and, from his perception, weaken human beings.
When man frees himself from all the influences and doctrines that have been imposed on him, and seeks from his state of purity and will to establish his own life project according to his valuesthen the superman is born and the truth of existence is discovered.
However, according to Nietzsche, to achieve this state of improvement and transformation to superman, a series of spiritual metamorphoses and of the nature of man must be experienced, which he called as follows:
The camel: It symbolizes the European man who follows traditional morality, which is why he bears great burdens. Therefore, he must fight and achieve other aspects of human existence.
The lion: refers to the revolutionary man who faces moral slavery.
The boy: It refers to the purity from which new values are established.
In this sense, the superman is a representation of nihilism, of man who frees himself from all doctrine and replaces God with himself. He is a being who does not follow the moral and ethical approaches proposed by the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle.
See also Nihilism.
Characteristics of Nietzsche’s Superman
Below are the main characteristics of the superman according to Nietzsche:
The transformation into a superman requires power over oneself. One must be critical of the values on which one plans to govern one’s life. Man must have the ability to express his own will. It is a constant transformation. Man must be creative. , authentic and courageous. God must be replaced by the superman, therefore he must forget the imposed moral values.