Who is Nietzsches Superman?
” THIS SESSION HAS BEEN CANCELED Randall Havas, Eaton 211 “Nietzsche (1844 – 1900) is the most influential European thinker of the late 19th century. His infamous “Superman” or “Overman” is often taken to be a heroic figure of supreme autonomy, beholden to no one and who, in the wake of the collapse of traditional forms of moral authority, imposes values of his own creation on an otherwise meaningless world. A more careful reading of Nietzsche’s texts, however, reveals a far more nuanced view according to which the Overman lives his life only in community with others. Indeed, the Overman is “over” — beyond — man primarily in the sense that he has _overcome what Nietzsche understands to be our human, all-too-human wish evade our responsibilities to one another. In his lecture, Havas will discuss Nietzsche’s conception of the possibility of meaning in the wake of the death of God.” • 10:00 a.m.
