Jane Sorensen

Monday, June 30, 2003

Nietzsches Ubermensch and Conventional Morality

What is an Ubermensch?
The old definition of a Superman, going back to Thrasymachus, was a tyrant who administered public power according to strength, without regard to the morality of the weak. The definition of a Superman, by later development, is one who has the ability to create revolutionary thought, the power or political ability to promote it, the energy to take down its opposition, and the genius for the thought to survive his [the Supermans] era. The thought, action, or creation must be significant enough to be revolutionary, achieve notoriety, and eventually to make a difference in the path that human history takes. The morality of the thought is still irrelevant. Yet this definition bears further refinement, by comparison with Nietzsches Ubermensch.
Nietzsche created the Ubermensch in Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The Ubermensch is the overman, a messiah-like creature yet to come. In the editorial comment on p. 115, Kaufmann explains the close relation between the Nietzschean concept of overman and the action of self-overcoming. Mensch, he indicates, means human as opposed to animal.

...a human being who has created for himself that unique position in the cosmos which the Bible considered his divine birthright. The meaning of life is thus found on earth, in this life, not as the inevitable outcome of evolution, which might well give us the last man instead, but in the few human beings who raise themselves above the all-too-human mass. Throughout Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the prophet (Zarathustra, a name derived from Zoroaster, a Persian prophet) speaks of the coming overman, and how all people should prepare to sacrifice themselves for the overman, that is, go under. What is going under? In German, untergehen (under) means to perish, or sunset. In the Nietzschean context, it is to abandon belief and convention; abandon inertia, cultural conditioning, and any nature or impulse that prevents human beings from achieving greater selves (115). In a nice twist of language, Nietzsche even suggested the best psychological makeup or frame of mind in which one can overcome oneself or ones opposition: The Ubermt is a lightness of mind, or prankish exuberance (p. 110) that the Ubermensch would have. The term can also designate an overbearing which is hubristic, stereotypical of supermen that have come before (Napoleon, tyrant kings). It is common knowledge that Nietzsche placed great value on the ego and will. Hubris ego was bad, in terms of morality, until the nineteenth century. As one progresses through the First Part, however, one see that the favoured definition of Ubermt is lightness of mind. This psychological characteristic diverges from the stereotyped Superman of the definition supplied above.

What is conventional morality?

A convention is merely an agreed-upon rule. Conventional morality would therefore be agreed-upon rules of rightful action. Rules can be written or unwritten, determined by consensus (such as culture) or testing against a principal of fairness or justice (law).

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Conventional morality has a reactionary element the tendency to think that what is right, or at least acceptable under the majority of circumstances, is necessarily what has been done before. The outcome is influenced by whoever benefited most by the previously-existing state of affairs. Nevertheless, popularity often has a value in conventional morality, as popularity is an essential component to political democracy, and politics or political institutions either set (liberal point of view) or respond to (conservative point of view) conventional views of morality. Popular actions can become expected behaviours, expected behaviours become moral standards. In defending morality as a method by which we, as individuals, can both control the effects of chance on our lives and purposefully live good lives (lives that, as we shall see, follow Zarathustras teachings), John Kekes stated Morality is a system designed to make the world as hospitable to our interests as possible (Facing Evil, 195). Let us put conventional morality aside for a moment to discuss the relevancy of suffering to human goals.

What is the purpose of human suffering?

In Moral Wisdom and Good Lives, Kekes quoted Hegel from Reason in History: ...in contemplating history as the slaughter-bench at which the happiness of peoples, the wisdom of states, and the virtue of individuals have been sacrificed, a question necessarily arises: To what principle, to what final purpose, have these monstrous sacrifices been offered? (164) Kaufmann, too, suggests that ...man is capable of standing superhuman suffering if only he feels sure that there is some point and purpose to it. (111) Yet in Zarathustras speech On the Thousand and One Goals, he observes Humanity still has no goal. (172) What purpose, then, all this superhuman suffering? Is it Gods way? But Zarathustra declared God is dead! (124). Kekes persuades: There is no reason to think that a purpose exists, and none for supposing that if it did, it would redeem the suffering concomitant with its realization. (164) This is the legacy of former Supermen, some of whom encouraged religion and superstition.

Deep thought on morality

Kekes made an interesting point about Nietzsches depth of moral thought: Depth involves discerning an underlying unity among apparently complex and unrelated phenomena. It is to see the same phenomena as many others also see, but to penetrate below their surface and construct a theory or a vision, depending on the subject matter, that leads to a possible understanding of the reality of which the appearances are manifestations1. It is to posses a perspective, an organizing view that provides the foundation for understanding what was previously problematic, even if no

Italics mine.

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one recognized its problems; think of Plato on love, Aristotle on virtue, Einstein on relativity, Spinoza on freedom, Marx on history, Hume on causality, Freud on the unconscious, Nietzsche on morality, and Darwin on evolution. The essential feature of these perspectives is that they provide a possible way of understanding a very sizable segment of the world that is, in some respect, important to us. (Moral Wisdom and Good Lives, 166) This introduces a difficult issue with conventional morality: though it can be construed as banal, dogmatic, and even blind and unjust, most of the time, it works. It provides a social framework that allows diverse personalities to function together whenever necessary. Many commonly-held moral beliefs have deeper truths to them that the typical follower might be hard put to explain, though he jumps to the beliefs defence when attacked with a more difficult, or potentially harmful, alternative. The suggestion, supported by the phrase in italics above, is that conventional morality is often the superficial appearance, or the manifestation, of real morality. Convention is the surface, morality is the depth.

Examples of disdain
In the First Part of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, we have many examples of disdain for conventional morality. The speech On the Teachers of Virtue parodies the Bible and the law. The sage preaches: Few know it, but one must have all the virtues to sleep well. Shall I bear false witness? Shall I commit adultery? Shall I covet my neighbours maid? All that will go ill with good sleep. (140) Honor the magistrates and obey them even the crooked magistrates. Good sleep demands it.(141) He adds, Much, too, do I like the poor in spirit: they promote sleep. Blessed are they, especially if one always tells them they are right. (141) Zarathustra comments: This sage with his forty thoughts is a fool; but I believe that he knows well how to sleep...His wisdom is: to wake in order to sleep well....Now I understand clearly what was once sought above all when teachers of virtue were sought. Good sleep was sought, and opiate virtues for it. For all these much praised sages who were teachers of virtue, wisdom was the sleep without dreams: they knew no better meaning of life. (142) He continues in the awareness of the coming Ubermensch: Today too there may still be a few like this preacher of virtue, and not all so honest; but their time is up. And not for long will they stand like this: soon they will lie. Blessed are the sleepy ones: for they shall soon drop off. (142) The speech On the Adders Bite offers: The annihilation of morals, the good and just call me: my story is immoral. (180) Much of this speech commends response-inkind to what an enemy or adversary lobs your way, the opposite of the Christian advice to

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turn the other cheek. By contrast, Ghandi embraced the idea, as portrayed in the film, and found an exceptional, practical power in it. Taken from the script:
GANDHI: Doesn't the New Testament say, "If your enemy strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the left"? He starts to move forward. Charlie hesitates, then follows nervously, more nervous for Gandhi than himself. CHARLIE: I think perhaps the phrase was used metaphorically . . . I don't think our Lord meant They are getting closer. The youths laughing, whispering. GANDHI: I'm not so certain. I have thought about it a great deal. I suspect he meant you must show courage - be willing to take a blow - several blows - to show you will not strike back - nor will you be turned aside . . . And when One youth has flicked his cigarette - hard. It lands at Gandhi's feet. He pauses, looking at the youth. GANDHI: . . . and when you do that it calls upon something in human nature - something that makes his hate for you diminish and his respect increase. I think Christ grasped that and I - I have seen it work.

Ghandi fits the description of the Superman/Ubermensch, most notably because he turned the tide of political and cultural sentiment in India and England in an extremely creative manner. His morality was unconventional, but was palatable to those whom convention previously ruled.

The value of creation

In Zarathustras vision, there is room and need for the good, virtuous, and moral. On the Thousand and One Goals, Zarathustra said: A tablet of the good hangs over every people. Behold, it is the tablet of their overcomings; behold it is the voice of their will to power. (170) A people create their concept of the good, the creation of the concept is a good in itself. The energy that Zarathustra puts into condemning conventional morality, then, must be a protest against stagnation. He demands constant self-renewal; he demands that the individual voice rings out in the creation of collective good, and he demands the collective to take heed. To esteem is to create: hear this, you creators!....Change of values that is a change of creators. Whoever must be a creator always annihilates. First, people were creators; and only in later times, individuals. Verily, the individual himself is still the most recent creation....The delight in the herd is more ancient than the delight in the ego; and as long as the good conscience is identified with the herd, only the bad conscience says: I. Word count: 2752 Page 4 of 7

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....Good and evil have always been created by lovers and creators. The fire of love glows in the names of all the virtues, and the fire of wrath....Verily, a monster is the power of this praising and censuring. Tell me, who will conquer it...? (171 - 172) Nietzsche saw the path of human destiny as one in which an Ubermensch, in one lifetime, could change consistent with the traditional definition of a Superman, and true in the example of Ghandi. Evolution as the slow process that Darwin envisioned would not be quite as effective, and would not fit Nietzsches model of will-to-power. Yet there are natural science and evolutionary aspects of the philosophy that Zarathustra espouses. One gets the impression that Zarathustra is advocating abandoning oneself to chance and nature, to become selflessly opportunistic. In his speech On the Gift-Giving Virtue, he says ...My disciples: you strive, as I do, for the gift-giving virtue, to become sacrifices and gifts yourselves. [Degeneration is bad, it is the worst of all. Let your knowledge and sacrifice serve the meaning of the earth.] (186) Much has been made of the great leap to superhumanity. For example, the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, depicts a monolith whose presence seems to trigger a shift in the path that humanity takes: an ape discovers how to use a tool; a man witnesses space and time in another dimension, and, like the creation of a homunculus, inexplicably brings into being a Star Child. Moreover, in actual science (as opposed to science-fiction), Stephen Jay Gould was the most notable proponent of a theory called Punctuated Equilibrium. This theory is that evolution takes place in leaps, in response to drastic changes in the environment. Nietzsches intuition was astute.

The value of virtue and the allegory of war

Despite abandoning oneself to nature and becoming even more unthinking than the masses, Nietzsches prophet makes clear his intentions for morality in On the GiftGiving Virtue: he exalts the thinkers own virtues, those determined in a fiercely individualistic manner, rejecting conventional morality (the reason of all men). Ones virtues shall not be a signpost for me to overearths and paradises. It is an earthly virtue that I love: there is little prudence in it, and least of all the reason of all men. (148) Zarathustra suggests, with a bridge metaphor, that this kind of virtue prepares the way for the overman, or the virtuous becomes more like the overman: My brother, if you are fortunate you have only one virtue and no more: then you will pass over the bridge more easily. Both the overman and the underman can have overmanly qualities. The oration leads directly from there into the initial subject of the Bhagavad Gita: the evil or good, and necessity, of war. Ghandi suggested the war in the Bhagavad Gita was an allegory where the battlefield is the soul, and Arjuna the voice of mans higher impulses struggling against evil (Bhagavad Gita,142). Nietzsche directly parallels this idea by the war played between virtues. My brother, are war and battle evil? But this evil is necessary; necessary are the envy and mistrust and calumny among your virtues. Behold how each of your virtues covets what is highest: each wants your whole spirit that it might become her herald; each wants your whole strength in wrath, hatred, and love. (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 149) Word count: 2752 Page 5 of 7

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He ambiguously concludes, Man is something that must be overcome; and therefore you shall love your virtues, for you will perish of them. (149) In the speech On War and Warriors, Zarathustra said War and courage have accomplished more great things than love of the neighbor. Not your pity but your courage has so far saved the unfortunate. (149) This equates the value of the Ubermensch in accomplishing great things with traditional political and military power. I find this attitude to be conventional, and akin to comparing apples to oranges: macro-movements of politics and populations to the micro-relations of neighbourly interaction. Moreover, Ghandis alternative strategy of peaceful non-cooperation proved that love of the neighbour accomplishes at least as much as war would.

Go under, be overcome, to go over

The First Part of Thus Spoke Zarathustra ends on very strong, positive notes of optimism, hope, and faith. ...out of you, who have chosen yourselves, there shall grow a chosen people and out of them, the overman. (189) The ambiguity of the virtues is resolved on page 190, where Zarathustra says that one who goes under, goes over. Ultimately, the argument of the Ubermensch is to abandon convention and go deeper, to keep a mindful appreciation of the great people whose path you are preparing. There isnt nihilism in the negative sense in these teachings; its a matter-of-fact, not-unsympathetic reminder that you will be overcome and you will submit. He shows a purposeful way of going about it that requires faith not in God, but in humanity, and the overman who will one day lead us down a new path.

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Bibliography
Attenborough, R., Briley, J. Ghandi. Carolina Bank, Goldcrest Films International, Indo-British, International Film Investors. National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC): 1982 Hegel, G.W.F. Reason in History, trans. Robert S. Hartman. Liberal Arts: New York, 1958. The Portable Nietzsche. Ed. Kaufmann, W. Penguin Books: 1982. Kekes, John. Moral Wisdom and Good Lives. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, 1995. Kekes, John. Facing Evil. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1990. Kubrick, S. and Clarke, A.C. 2001: A Space Odyssey. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Polaris: 1968. Bhagavad Gita, trans. Swami Prabhavananda and C. Isherwood. Signet Classic: New York, 2002.

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