Oct 11, 2022 (Medium.com)
Why Man Should Be More Than Just Human-all-too-human?
In his book, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, Nietzsche tells a story of how man is the bridge between the animal and the overman. The overman is a being that is beyond good and evil; a being that has transcended the limitations of the human condition.
The overman is something that man can aspire to be, but it is not something that man can easily achieve.
The animal acts on impulse and instinct alone. Man must first be an animal to reach the state of overman; man must act on impulse, will, and instinct alone and then analyze them slowly.
The overman is a being that has overcome the human condition, and this is achieved through acts of will. The act of will in Nietzsche’s philosophy is the act of creation; it is the moment when man overcomes himself and becomes something more than he was before.
Nietzsche’s concept of the overman is a direct contradiction to the idea that man is an animal. Nietzsche believed that human beings were far more than animals, and his philosophy was based on this premise.
What Nietzsche Meant When He Said:
“Man is something that shall be overcome. Man is a rope,tied between beast and overman — a rope over an abyss.What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Meaning, Summary And Explanation
In this quote, Nietzsche uses the term man to refer to a rope, that is tied between the beast and the overman.
We usually think of ourselves as weak individuals who cannot bring change in society, but Nietzsche wanted us to see ourselves as something that is much larger than an individual and a part of a higher purpose to the world.
We are both the bridge and the rope. We are tied to a new world and we can create a bridge to that new world.
The beast that is tied to the rope can be described as the animal that lives in the cave. This beast lives on a completely different plane than the overman. This life is lived in a totally different manner than the life of the overman.
This beast does not live in accordance with the rules and morals of the overman. The beast does not know what it wants, and instead, it is ruled by its instincts.
The beast that lives is unable to find a way to live in the open. It is only when the beast is tied to a rope, that it can escape the cave and begin to live in the open.
We have all of the possibilities of becoming the overman. We have the choice of living our lives according to our desires and goals or according to the rules and laws that society has already set for us.
Here, we have to choose what we want to become or remain in our life; an animal, a man, or an overman.
Nietzsche argued that life is a type of ‘art,’ and we must be willing to create a work of art.
If we become a living work of art, then we will be able to use the work of art as a bridge between the world of the beast and the world of the overman.
We are given the opportunity to find the rope that ties us to the overman, but we are only given this chance if we are willing to seek out this truth.
In other words, Nietzsche believed that man must overcome his own nature to become something greater. He must transcend his animal instincts and become something more than just a creature of instinct.
The overman is a being who has transcended the limitations of man and has become something more. This bridge will allow a man to cross the abyss that separates him from the overman.
Zarathustra (the main character of the philosophical novel; Thus spake Zarathustra) had a strong will. He was aware that his own way was one of the true ways, and he did not want us to follow him. He wanted to create a new type of man and a new kind of society.
He believed that we should all go our own way. We should not allow ourselves to be controlled by society, and we should have our own rules and be our own masters.
If we do not, we will just be like every other person in society. We will all follow society’s rules. We will all live our lives like a machine or robots, doing whatever society wants us to do.
In society, everyone will be like everyone else, and nothing will change. The overman has to come out of society. He must come up with a new kind of society that is more worthy of himself.
A man can only be great if he makes a big change in himself. He will only be a true master if he starts to make his own rules.
Nietzsche: Why Man Should Become An Overman?
In his book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra Nietzsche described the man as a “moral animal.” He believed that man was a weak and inferior creature in need of constant reassurance and a great deal of “power-love.”
To make sure of this power love, humans rely on moral codes and systems of rules that are invented by the powerful and then enforced by the weak people over the weak people.
According to Nietzsche, man is “a being who is not satisfied with himself, who is always in search of greater, higher and nobler goals, who has no true happiness except where he is on the way to something that is greater than himself, who is continually dissatisfied and discontent with himself.”
The “will to power” is the only true morality in the world. He stated that one should not be willing to take advantage of others, but one should be willing to take the greatest advantage of oneself.
The highest form of “will to power” is the “overman.” The “overman” is a superman who stands above the petty morality of conventional society. These supermen are the ones who are willing to do the most to their own advantage and growth.
Morality is not something that should be enforced from the outside by society. Instead, morality must be created from within ourselves by the individual and for the individual.
Nietzsche stated that when we are born, we are a “bundle of instincts” that are both noble and ignoble. These instincts must be tamed by a “higher” moral code of behavior.
We have the ability to develop or “become” the “overman.” We can develop our personalities in the way that best suits us.
To become the “overman,” we must be willing to risk our personal safety in order to have the power to change the world.
Because we cannot know what the “overman” will look like, we must create him within ourselves. We must also take responsibility, and not blame others for what we are.
The first step to becoming an Overman is to realize that we are already an Overman. We already have all the tools that we need to become one of the greatest Overmen.
The second step to becoming an Overman is, to be honest with yourself.
To be honest, we must be willing to face our faults and our weaknesses and recognize that we all have them.
To be honest, to be honest with ourselves is, to be honest with reality.
We must recognize that we are all imperfect, and we all can do better in some way, and in some way we are great.
Final Thoughts On Nietzsche: Why Man Is A Bridge Between Animal And Overman?
In the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, the “overman” is a goal for humanity to set for itself. It is not an unreachable utopia, but something that can be achieved through hard work, self-realization, and self-overcoming.
The overman is a being who has transcended the limitations of the human condition and acquired a higher level of existence.
The overman is a goal worth striving for. It represents our highest potential as human beings.
In other words, man is constantly at risk of falling into the abyss and being destroyed.
What is great in man, according to Nietzsche, is that he has the ability to bridge the gap between these two states. This ability makes him both dangerous and necessary.
In other words, man is caught between two different stages of evolution. On the one hand, there is the animal, which is driven by instinct. On the other hand, there is the overman, which is driven by a strong will.
Man must have the will to overcome his human nature, and this is not an easy thing to do.
In order for a man to become overcome himself, he must be able to act even though he knows he is acting contrary to what his instincts demand of him. It is in this way that man must overcome his own nature.