Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: October 20, 2001
Latest Update: October 20, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu
Olivier Urbain, Soka University

Reactions to Nietzsche

Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors: October 2001.
"Fair use" encouraged.

On Saturday, October 20, 2001, Heidi Rickman wrote:

Nietzsche, in referring to the Uebermensche, is talking about an individual's ability to struggle and his power to break free of societally sanctioned roles and the power to reject the values which are imposed upon their lives through the dominant discourse. He sees the Ultimate man as being a slave in the constant seeking of pleasure, material goods and comfort. He saw and dismissed the Western culture, much as the Middle Easterners view the U. S. today, as being self-serving and complacent in their worship of the consumer culture. He feels that this Ultimate Man must and can be overcome. The Ubermensch is the man 's struggle and enduring power to overcome society's roles and to reject it's values. The Ubermensch is the nest and higher stage in human development according to Nietzche. In this stage the individual has the freedom and courage to embrace life and not to fear it's socially sanctioned restraints. He can then fulfill his right to express his sensuous and creative self, being free of the bourgeois self-justifying values. Nietzsche felt that each individual has the right to create his/her own authentic self, being free of society's judgments and that of the dominant discourse. He viewed life as a work of art.

Heidi Rickman

On Saturday, October 20, 2001, jeanne responded:

Heidi, that's a very good summary of Nietzsche's position as contained in Farganis' Introduction to Nietzsche. Now, I would like to know how you feel about Nietzsche's position. Do you think it's reasonable to want each of us to seek the freedom that Nietzsche describes for his Uebermensch?

love and peace, jeanne