Nietzsche: Nihilism and the Ubermensch 

The script to this video is part of the Philosophy Vibe - Existentialism eBook, available on Amazon: US: www.amazon.com/dp/B088QQBXY3 UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QQBXY3 Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QQBXY3 India: www.amazon.in/dp/B088QQBXY3 Australia: www.amazon.com.au/dp/B088QQBXY3 Germany: www.amazon.de/dp/B088QQBXY3 For an overview & intro to Philosophy check out the Philosophy Vibe Anthology paperback set, available worldwide on Amazon: Volume 1 - Philosophy of Religion US: www.amazon.com/dp/B092H42XCS UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092H42XCS Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B092H42XCS Volume 2 - Metaphysics US: www.amazon.com/dp/B092H5MGF9 UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092H5MGF9 Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B092H5MGF9 Volume 3 - Ethics and Political Philosophy US: www.amazon.com/dp/B092H9V22R UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B092H9V22R Canada: www.amazon.ca/dp/B092H9V22R

I like when the purple guy start arguing. Its like balancing the previous argument and somehow i started to have a personal question for myself

I love the very succinct explanation that Nietzche's assertion that there is no objective morality leads to either moral nihilism or subjectivism, and that the ubermensch runs into problems because of this!

Feel free to debate me on this, and I would love to discuss the topic, but I don't think these criticisms of Nietzsche are valid. At 6:40 you ask how we can know what an Ubermensch is like without ever coming into contact with one. I believe this question is formed from the misconception of the Ubermensch being a definitive "ultimate goal" as you put it at 7:20. I find the Ubermensch to be better described as the next step in human development. It's a gradual change, not a definitive transformation. Nietzsche even says we have seen "glimpses" of the Ubermensch in humanity already, so these attributes would not be unknown to us. Nietzsche determines the attributes of the Ubermensch simply by observing the attributes of humanity that are most beneficial (like having a free mind versus a herd mentality or being focused on reality versus an afterlife). Imagine we existed as giraffes with short necks. If we observe giraffes with longer necks thriving in our environment, then our idea of an "ubergiraffe" would be a giraffe with a longer neck. The next part is my biggest criticism on your analysis of Nietzsche. Around 8:20 you make several comments all alluding to the idea that the only alternative to moral objectivity is moral subjectivity, and this is not true. You are forgetting about moral intersubjectivity, which is what I believe Nietzsche is talking about. Intersubjectivity is the belief that there is moral objectivity, but only in relation to each subjective goal. This means the Ubermensch will have a better grasp on morality than us without any established universal moral laws. This would most definitely bring about some conflict of interest, but conflict of interest does not constitute the need for a moral law. For example, if I need an object, but another person is in possession of said object, there is a conflict of interest. I could say my morally subjective opinion leads me to determine that the best course of action would be to kill the person and take the object. But, most likely, this will be objectively false because I then put myself at risk, damage my psyche, and I can no longer utilize this person as a future asset when I (probably) could've just offered money instead. An Ubermensch will know when killing ect. is necessary or beneficial and when it is not based on the situation, and not based on a law or an opinion (objectivity or subjectivity) therefore the world of the Ubermensch would not be one of chaos, as everyone would understand that creating chaos does not objectively help their subjective goal. Lastly, you mention "God is dead" as if it is Nietzsche advocating for the abandonment of the idea of God just because the Bible falls short in some areas. This is also incorrect. Nietzsche was describing what Christianity has done to the image of God. That is-- they distorted it so drastically to the point where people are turning to nihilism and abandoning the metaphysical idea of God altogether. Nietzsche was labeled by many scholars (and Wikipedia) as a pantheist, not an atheist. He accepted the idea of God, just not in the Judeo-Christian sense. Edit: Just fixed some grammatical errors.

This is what a philosophy channel should be like - balanced. Present the facts and arguments and let people think for themselves. Rather than, let's say, a channel like Philosophy Tube, which will state a position, nitpick obscure ideas from books that support that position with an air of it's being THE definitive idea and then use a whole lot of language manipulation to 'prove' the position. In essence, it's good to hear from someone who doesn't have a dog in the fight.

The concept of an Ubermensch can become a reality if literally only one human remained in existence.

I don’t think there would be a clash between 2 ubermensch, because a real ubermensch knows that everyone else is trying their best to be an ubermensch

Appreciate your work man! Thank You!

I have started binging your videos. Your channel is a blessing on this site. Thank you mate!

Brilliant the way you debate...Love the voice of the guy without glasses..Please carry on making more philosophy videos.

Who is the second guy without glasses? His voice sounds weird, it's like he either smokes or is dead inside or some combination of the two, lol...

This is fantastic. Nice job. Excellent!

Hi, great videos on philosophical issues! But I haven't found one in your channel that deals with phenomenology. I wonder if you are planning to make videos on it. Thanks.

You guys earned a new subscriber from this one. Very nicely done.

Great job this was such an amazing debate 👏👏👏

Really cool video. I think the super morality builds from Kant's third categorical imperative.

It can be dangerous to want to know everything because it's not everything that's beneficial for you. Which is why there's something called Trust. Trust is this, in a situation there are multiple paths you can follow, someone tells you to go in one particular direction because of some reward you are promised to get, and even though you may have questions of 'what happens if I follow those other paths', you choose to follow the path that person directed you to, because you Trust that person is protecting you. e.g. We don't need to know the pain of being cut by a knife when you maybe chopping some onions for instance. Those who have experienced it can agree that they don't want to be cut again like that. Therefore, for those who have never experienced being cut, can be prevented from cutting themselves if someone tells them how to cut in a way that they don't cut themselves, and those people have a chance to Trust that instruction, and live a life not knowing that pain.

I'm not sure if I can say this among all these heads of intellectuals.....but I felt this guy's voice really soothing. And it's devine feeling, listening to him ❤️

Excellent brief introduction to Nietzsche's thought. Prof. Dr. Dr. H. James Birx

Well explained. Loved it.

Good job. Thanks for this.

Nice job love it but one thing why it’s like at the end without answering the purple guy question the video is ended

I really appreciate this channel 👍👍

Your simplicity is great. You r great.

Really enjoyed the video

Amazing video - clarifies the concept of objective morality beautifully

God bless the internet. Thanks for posting this up.

This is excellent explanation.

This is awesome.

Hello, I want to ask something about Nietzsche. Where do you think Nietzsche stands in ethical theory? I have been puzzling with that question for a long time. When we consider his thoughts about truths for example he seems like a non-cognitivist, claiming there are no moral facts only metaphors but he also wants us to revaluate our values and create new truths independent from the valid value judgments. But when we create our own values and name them as our goods and bads-not evils-it seems like we are adopting ethical subjectivism, which is, a cognitivist theory? I would appreciate if you answer my question. Thank you ( or maybe I should not think of him with 20th century ethical categories at all)

Hey guys, thank you so much for this thought-provoking content and discussion! I respectfully need to point out what I think is an error with the 'what if we all become Ubermenschen?' This is an imposition of the Judeo-Christian concept of 'paradise' or 'heaven on earth' on Nietzsche's system. He would not have intended to mean that everybody would become Ubermensche, nor would he have agreed that all Ubermensche would 'spiritually evolve' into people who all share identical morals, thereby bringing about universal harmony and peace on earth. Each Ubermensche would be a unique individual which may or may not come into conflict with other people. The herd remains the herd. Thanks very much and please keep it up!

Ok but I was waiting for the answers😭

basic but well explained and entertaining well done

Thank you gentlemen. I love the way you answer each other's points with a flat, monosllyabic reply, but then offer profound counterpoints when your time to speak comes about. In truth, it really cracks me up! Brilliant. All I know is that there is much more going on in existence than meets the eye, and religions are just trying to speak of that, but words and concepts can only point to it-they cannot accurately capture it. Here in Indian Country, Tulsa Oklahoma, a tribal theme points to that aspect of things as Great Mystery. After decades of looking into the great matter I agree. Shine On.

just wow plz make more and more videos

When will you guys have a podcast?

You guys blow my mind.

Very good points thank u ,but an ubermensch concept is really awesome perhaps we can take parts from both god is still alive and ubermensch both?

We all think alike. We are all moralists. And go by the numbers. The numbers decide not us what is morally beneficial. Statistically proving the benefits of a moral society and individuals. Of course some things are difficult to quantify. But some are simply a given.

i noticed you guys have a twitter account but aren't using it.

I imagine that a good reason why the exact definition of an Ubermensch is so vague because it is less of a single "species" but more or less the encouragement of evolution causing situational adaptation the bends to the needs of the one evolving. Each person becoming their own type Ubermensch although with groupings happening naturally. A valid explanation of the clashes between two opposing Ubermensch could be that the society would likely have to function in a kratocratic manner when it comes to morality. One of the two opposing would have to eventually win out and become the majority in which the society would function under. Not to dissimilar to how humanity already pretty much functions.

I strongly believe that the quote by Nitetzsche and Hegal "God Is dead" , meant that we are reaching new understandings of what god IS and by doing so we are abandoning the religious archetypes.

I think you are two ideal 'Ubermensch' or supermen! have different ideas but calm and tolerant to each other!

I like the purple top guy

I think another argument against the Ubermensch is that Nietzche pivots the concept as an ultimate good. If morality is subjective, then why is pursuing the status of Ubermensch a goal for all of humanity? Is it bad not to? Why is it necessary to create your own morality if good and bad are subjective? Some ideas to consider.

i am stuck on being to overcome nihilism for now. and I don't think become overman is a solution. i do believe that we can go higher as a human being than us right now, but the version of each person will be not same, i think.

The entire passage "Der tolle Mensch" ("the crazy person") from Die froehliche Wissenschaft is marvelous. It's the crazy person who runs around yelling, "God is dead! We've killed him!" etc etc. He runs around the city square in broad daylight with a lantern (echoes of Diogenes of Sinope of course), looking for God. Some atheists mock the crazy person: "What happened? Did you misplace God?" And the crazy person, crazy as he is, correctly denounces the atheists for laughing, for not having grasped the seriousness of the consequences of what has happened. The entire passage is just the best.

1:18 It's also important the context of the book, it was declared by a madman in the town square in the joyous science

thank -God- I mean ubermensch for this channel

Love the hype man on the left!

Fantastic vid. Slight correction our ancestors were not chimps. We share ancestry with chimps but split from a common ancestor 2 million years ago.

Purple guy was coming through for me in this episode. Yaaaaas

God is dead so we must evolve into, basically, gods? This philosophy is circular. Also, why does Nietzsche get to decide that God is dead? It takes more than one man to create a system of belief.

My take on this concept is that ubermen is evolved man but in a way that he don't need any other sources (superficial or not) of will, except his own will power that derived from things he like to do (it's more of a mental evolution than physical). And yes we r products of our brought up every situation results good or bad thinking same as coin can go heads or tails. But Wat if the subject is surrounded by ubermen (being ubermen mean that he draw will power from the shear enthusiasm towards his ideas) so he don't have time to wait and pass or receive judgements from other. If he failed he'll learn the lesson and try in a differnt way. And I think I can refer Luffy from One piece (anime) for this example but evolution like this would make things awesome

Damn, absolutely loved the counter opinion on the Ubermensch. I was actually going to look up videos on a counter opinion because I too see holes in the theory we can become the Ubermensch. But, this video did a perfect job at the end pointing out various points.

Very good video man, your criticism on the Übermensch is very spot on.

Okay I understand all the confusion. I don't post selfies

Thanks for this, another interesting video. The criticisms of Nietzsche are worth considering, particularly those concerning the supposed death of God and the evolution of humans. Buddhists see "God" as a sort of "place-holder" for wider concepts such as "inner space" or "presence", things that can be held within the body and lead to "enlightenment". Some practitioners of meditation even talk about this move toward "enlightenment" as the next stage in our evolution. Eckhart Tolle, who uses meditation practice, though not a Buddhist, talks frequently about this idea. Perhaps Nietzsche was half right, or half way there?

Ubermensch is a theoretical idea which can morph into whatever extistialism one creates and sees good or as a necessary evil.

Great chat only thing I'd add is subjective morality leads to nihilism

Pls provide Arabic subtitles for the rest of videos

Morality may be not universal, but consciousness can be, which might be the key to ubermensch.

Thank you sir. Could you suggest me one book to know the overall philosophical thoughts of Nietzsche which I can get easily on e-Shopping sites....I am from India....... again thank you sir for this video 😊.

It's weird but I find an overlap between the Ubermensch and the Divine Spark...

In all that we do in the world, we must remember that there's a Truth for everything. And Truth remains regardless of how much and what we understand. If there is no Truth, then chaos reigns, anything can be any at any given moment in time. Yet , of course we all know that cannot be, because we can all see that there's an order to how things work. If there is order, then there's a Truth that forms that order.

"The concept of God is bigger than religion." Well said.

Dear Influencer, If it's possible for you to make a video on below topics 3 philosophical debate of all time l think it will be more helpful for your viewer 1)Free-will & Determinism 2) Mind body Relationship (Descartes mind-body dualism, interactionism and Spinoza's Mind-Body Parallelism) 3) Rationalism and Empiricism These are also part of developmental psychology

I know few ubermensches, they are Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Einstein, Hawkin, ..........

My Buddha's #Enlightenment- ATE your Ubermensch.

How can something that Never existed be Dead?

Based on the purple dude's counter, I wanna say that, Nietzsche does say that because of how our world and humanity is we can not become Ubermensch, we can not create new values, when we are born into the world that already has those established before our world but he said we can try and be a bridge to Ubermensch for the next civilization.

why did one english video helped me more than the german ones lmao, anyway good video hehe

This was great. Really well thought out and balanced. However your voices creep me out, I only say that because i think knowing what you look like could make things a bit less weird

Furthermore if john decided to take smith's values as his values (because john liked smith's values ),can we say that john is an übermensh ? It seems yes,so why if john decided to choose Christian values,we would say that john is not an übermensh ? And also suppose that john is an übermensh and smith is an übermensh,and suppose that both john and smith have chosen to rule the world (and ruling the world is their ultimate value and they're very commited to their values),then this would a big problem.

I disagree with one of your objections. A subjective morality can still be universal. Morality by definition must be subjective since it requires subjects in order to have any meaning whatsoever. While all the subjects have different brains/abilities/experiences etc. they are nonetheless all human. Apart from 2% who are psychopathic, we all have brains governed by limbic systems, so all respond to story/parable/allegory. We are already having conversations and interactions in popular culture where stories compete for popularity among human brains. Given an upsurge in interest in "spiritual" (which I think translates as philosophy told in such a way it affects the limbic system) stuff, the conversation could create competition for better moral narratives, and a collection of the most popular in such a society may conceivably yield the outline of a somewhat universal human morality.

The reason morality would all level out is because morality is a system and it will reach a point where one system proves better then the other. its not a single idea you get wrong. its a place you have to arrive, so the direction will be one or should be.

It’s learning how to ride your own wave raspy

You should study the works of Rudolph Steiner, Manly P Hall and the Nag Hammadi Texts in order to grasp the gravity of what Nietzsche is trying to say. You need to drop your physical attitude of everything and look deeper into the deeper gnosis hidden behind the stories. I'd also look very very closely at the works of the Buddha and especially Jesus if you really want to empathise with his point of view. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is almost like the Gospel of Thomas and Philip....if you have ears to hear.

The thing about the Superman theory is that it’s based on evolution. Evolution doesn’t care about strength morals or belief’s it only cares about two things the ability to survive and the ability to reproduce based on that logic the Superman could be anything so long as it could do those things effectively.

Wow! Both you guys are so close. Just meet in the middle. 🥳

"Are you falling into a nihilist abyss?" 😂😂

Erwin be like: *SASAGEYO*

iAM the Ubermensch mentioned, I used Corona wich I predicted 10 years ago to see a couple Supernova

When you realize Being Ubermench is the same as a normal person goal to become a Dirrector from his Managor possition How muvh time till we need to become next level Uber mench

I’d argue that the morals and values are already there. Look how similar religions are at their core. Every huge group of people with shared values over history has arrived at more or less the same ideas of right and wrong. Just because god is dead doesn’t mean we have to bury him. We can figure out what he did right and take it one step further by making it less abstract with the introduction of science into morality.

Thanks superman huuuuu interesting

Yup, Ubermensch is just Nietzsche's subjective opinion.

My throat hurt🙁

Most people do not get him, how was a Nihilist, is every Athiest a Nihilist?

I feel as though subjective morality can justify superstition in some cases.

It would seem that the ubermensch, by today's standards, I think, would be an animal or human rights or earth activist who undertakes their cause and triumphs while all others chose not to get involved or failed.

Can a Person believing in God be an Ubermensch

Just 1 thing. Our ancestors weren't chimps. We share a common ancestor with chimps. Big difference, but ur point remains valid

This is great, it’s really well done. With absurdist views morality almost always has too much weight in my opinion. This is the concept, that we all have the opportunity to determine what is meaningful and has value. Morality falls into place to some degree. We determine what matters and follow a moral code that supports the growth and development of what we value.

These philosophies were not new. They were just rehashed every few years with new spice to intrigue the contemporary people. Interesting that every time the idea of God is thrown out, the idea or "no morality" is always pushed. I wonder if we we really consider what that really would mean. REALLY... Interesting video. Today, there is a big push towards the "Ubermensch" under other names. And yet, millions still cling to the faith in a loving creator and sustainer who promises a better life.

Purple suit guy spitting facts. I don't see how the nihilistic world is practical.

I might know of one man to be a ubermensch alive in this very generation...😏

I feel like a true Ubermensch would reject this philosophy and simply go about his day. 😅

Said every anime character ever

Can you guys debate Ben Shapiro?