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<p>In this paper, I critique the prevalent notion that only in the abyss can one emerge to be the <italic>Übermensch,</italic> or to use Hollingdale’s term, the <italic>Superman.</italic> To support this, I will first expound on the notion of the abyss as ethical nihilism from the perspective of the death of God to Nietzsche’s critique of morality. I argue that ethical nihilism as an abyss is insufficient in constituting Nietzsche’s Superman. I will then set how the Superman emerges through counter-stages. The paradox is that such tragic an abyss that serves as <italic>conditio sine qua non</italic> for the Superman falls flat when looked at in the perspective of life. There underlies a fundamental difficulty in simply accepting the proposals of acknowledging the abyss or ‘becoming what one is.’ Later, Nietzsche’s anti-romanticism and anti-Darwinism are explored to support such difficulty.</p>
</abstract>

In this paper, I critique the prevalent notion that only in the abyss can one emerge to be the Übermensch, or to use Hollingdale’s term, the Superman. To support this, I will first expound on the notion of the abyss as ethical nihilism from the perspective of the death of God to Nietzsche’s critique of morality. I argue that ethical nihilism as an abyss is insufficient in constituting Nietzsche’s Superman. I will then set how the Superman emerges through counter-stages. The paradox is that such tragic an abyss that serves as conditio sine qua non for the Superman falls flat when looked at in the perspective of life. There underlies a fundamental difficulty in simply accepting the proposals of acknowledging the abyss or ‘becoming what one is.’ Later, Nietzsche’s anti-romanticism and anti-Darwinism are explored to support such difficulty.

The abyss, or the insufficiency of ethical nihilism for Nietzsche’s Übermensch

Ethics & Bioethics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this paper, I critique the prevalent notion that only in the abyss can one emerge to be the Übermensch, or to use Hollingdale’s term, the Superman. To...

The abyss, or the insufficiency of ethical nihilism for Nietzsche’s Übermensch

Published Online: Dec 12, 2020

Page range: 155 - 172

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2020-0011

Keywords
Abyss, ethics, Übermensch, Nietzsche, nihilism, Romanticism, Darwinism

© 2020 Jan Gresil Kahambing, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The abyss, or the insufficiency of ethical nihilism for Nietzsche’s Übermensch

Published Online: Dec 12, 2020

Page range: 155 - 172

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ebce-2020-0011

KeywordsAbyss, ethics, Übermensch, Nietzsche, nihilism, Romanticism, Darwinism

© 2020 Jan Gresil Kahambing, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Abyss, ethics, Übermensch, Nietzsche, nihilism, Romanticism, Darwinism