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/lp/penn-state-university-press/can-one-really-become-a-free-spirit-par-excellence-or-an-bermensch-kk7Xpd1n4y
- Publisher
- Penn State University Press
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2006 The Pennsylvania State University.
- ISSN
- 1538-4594
Abstract
Can One Really Become a “Free Spirit Par Excellence” or an Übermensch? ACOB GOLOMB his essay deals critically with Friedrich Nietzsche’s anthropological typol- Togy of the free spirit par excellence, we spirits (wir freie Geister), persons endowed with positive as opposed to negative power patterns, and the ideal of the Übermensch. The conclusions are twofold. The first, and quite surprising, finding is that it is not Nietzsche’s ideal of the Overman that is the pinnacle of his anthropological philosophy but, rather, the even more ideal type of the “free spirit par excellence.” The second, and less surprising, conclusion is that it is impossible to envisage a society consisting of such “free spirits.” This thesis will be highlighted by contrasting the Übermenschen, who, according to Nietzsche, might live in society and even need it as a sine qua non for their cultivation, to free spirits par excellence, who, by definition, are free from social ethos and hence impossible within its framework. We will see, however, that on Nietzsche’s terms the ideal of the Übermensch is also not viable in society. Hence this essay points to an inherent flaw in Nietzsche’s existential philosophy: namely, the nonviability of its most sublime ideals.
Journal
The Journal of Nietzsche Studies – Penn State University Press
Published: Nov 6, 2006