Nietzsche: The Prophet of Overcoming Yourself and Becoming Who You Are

Frederick Nietzsche (1844 – 1900) was a German philosopher who, along with Karl Marx and Charles Darwin, was one of the most influential thinkers of the 19th century. He was a prophet of “self-overcoming,” the idea of becoming an “ubermensch,” a person who rises above their circumstances and embraces whatever life throws at them. He wanted his work to teach us how to become who we are.   

Nietzsche has become one of the most misconstrued, misinterpreted, and misunderstood philosophers of our time. Improper translations and out-of-context pop culture references have shaped our idea of who Nietzsche was and what his views were. Much of our misunderstanding begins with his famous quote that “God is dead.” This implies that Nietzsche merely doesn’t believe in a god, and that we shouldn’t either; but this wasn’t his intention. Rather, he thought that the values and meaning of our lives that Christianity has provided us with no longer have legitimacy. He believed that these expressions of God and his teachings causes us to place more focus on otherworldly things and ultimately doesn’t give us meaning in this life. The only issue with this is that it leads to nihilism because with “the death of god”, we are left without morals and values. Nietzsche responded to this criticism with his idea of the ubermensch. This has been translated as the superman, beyond-man, hyperman, hyperhuman, and most accurately the overman. The use of the word superman has led us to thoughts of marvel and DC comic book characters, essentially defeating the purpose of Nietzsche trying to get away from “otherworldliness”. Instead of thinking of the man in the red cape with a big “S” on his chest, Nietzsche provides the notion of the overman as a goal or milestone we should be trying to achieve as a species. This overman is someone who has abandoned and overcome otherworldly ideas such as believing in/hoping for an afterlife or basing your values off of tradition and religious instinct. Nietzsche offers the overman as someone who grasps their earthly life with appreciation and acceptance, reaching beyond a victim or reactive mentality, and taking their life into their own hands. 

Nietzsche held that the practical purpose of philosophy was to facilitate the emergence of the great individual (a Higher Man) who dedicates their life to growth and self-overcoming. This pursuit gives us the ability to affirm life in the face of suffering, pain and tragedy, and to achieve “heights of the soul from which tragedy ceases to look tragic.” Nietzsche thought that the affirmation of life was the highest state a human being could attain. He put forth two intertwined concepts to represent affirmation of life; i.e., Amor Fati and The Eternal Recurrence. Amor Fati, or the love of Fate, said Nietzsche, is “my formula for greatness in a human being....” To love fate is to affirm life, but that is difficult in the face of so much suffering in existence. But for one to achieve the “heights of the soul from which tragedy ceases to look tragic,” they must understand that one must experience pain in order to achieve greatness. Suffering and tragedy are necessary for growth in life, and we want to be Yes-men to all of life. Nietzsche provides a psychological test to determine if one is in a state of yes-saying to life. Imagine a demon appeared at your death and said you had to live your life once more, and again eternally after that, with nothing new, with all of its pain and joy, would you gnash your teeth and curse him, or say to him that you had never heard anything so divine?  The yes-sayer, the life-affirmer, as they approach death, doesn’t wish for the peace of non-existence, but that the eternal recurrence was true. 

Ecce Homo is Nietzsche’s philosophy of becoming who you are, or in other terms, finding your happiness in life. His main argument is based around the idea of rejecting falsified religions or gods that hold you back with fear. Ecce Homo means “Behold, the man!,” but not just any man. The context of this phrase is important to what Nietzsche is trying to get his audience to understand. Pontius Pilate screamed this phrase to the crowd when Jesus was on the cross about to be crucified. Nietzsche uses this phrase for two reasons: to ridicule religion, and to announce that his philosophy will one day be as important and profound as the bible. Nietzsche embraced the idea that religion was a torture for people; in fact he believed that having idols was toxic for self-growth in life. He thought spiritual faith in the religious sense was a fake reality that was created by humans that only causes fear. He often called it a “curse,” something that distracts us from our real purpose in this life, which is to find yourself, to be free from the invented world. Once you can make the step to “overthrow idols,” only then will you be able to blossom and truly find who you are. You will be able to explore yourself and the world without being held down by fear-based ideology. This philosophy drove him to the brink of madness because people were not ready to listen to him during his time. His ideas were looked down upon because very few rejected ideals as Nietzsche did. They objected to Nietzsche’s ideas on god. Nietzsche said “I do no refute Ideals, I merely put on gloves before them.” He never accepted any societal, political, or foundational ideals without dissecting them first. This is his main argument for becoming who you are. To reject what you have learned throughout your life and find the truth instead of conforming. His main goal was to illuminate the fact that people should not be held down by fear in falsified gods or idols. He wanted people to find themselves through themselves and not through any God or idols.  

 Quiz Questions: 

1. 1. What is the ubermensch NOT, and what is a more accurate and accepted translation of it? (A superhero, Overman) 

2. 2. What was Nietzsche’s goal with providing us with the ubermensch? (To offer meaning in the light of the death of god, and to propose a type of human that dismisses otherworldly notions and focuses on the life directly in front of them.) 

3. 3. For Nietzsche, what is the practical purpose of philosophy, and what ability does it give us?  

4. 4. What were the two concepts Nietzsche put forth to represent the affirmation of life?   

5. 5. What is the real meaning of Ecce Homo and why was it so important to Nietzsche? 

6. 6. What did Nietzsche believe hindered self-growth and why?
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Discussion Questions: 

1. 1. Do you think the overman is an achievable goal for humanity? What else other than religion stands in our way of reaching it? 

2. 2. What is your vision of an overman and what does it entail? 

3. 3. Do you think that it is possible to see and accept suffering as an essential part of life? 

4. 4. Can you look back at bad decisions you made and not regret them? Do you have to be an Overman to do so? 

5. Why did Nietzsche want us to question the Foundation of Religion? 

6. What do we as humans need to get rid of in order to fully grow into our best selves? 

   

What Hollywood Got Wrong (about Nietzsche)

Nietzsche in 12 Minutes

Nietzsche on Amor Fati

Decoding Nietzsche's ECCE HOMO

Sammy Davis, Jr. on becoming who you are: