concept
German
also: Philosophy & Psychology
Übermensch
/ˈuːbərmɛn(t)ʃ/
lit. “overman, superhuman”
Nietzsche's figure of someone who creates their own values after the death of God.
Origin
Introduced in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–1885). Nietzsche imagined a future human who, freed from inherited Christian morality, would invent meaning rather than receive it. Later misappropriated by the Nazis to mean racial superiority — a reading Nietzsche himself, and his sister's curated edition aside, did not endorse.
Modern usage
Survives in philosophy classrooms and in the cape-and-tights word 'Superman' (Siegel and Shuster borrowed the translation). Comic-book usage now dominates casual speech.
Tags
philosophy
morality