Friedrich Nietzsche and Loving Powerfully

Abstract

Nietzsche admired the ancient Greek model of relationships, where friends were great, men were warriors, and women were for their recreation. He saw the fact of loving relationships as another example of the collapse of standards in a hedonistic world that is heading for nihilism. We have forgotten what it means to be courageous and strong. A great life should be challenging, not comfortable and secure. Nietzsche advocated a philosophy of “aristocratic radicalism”,¹ where a few brave human beings take up the challenge of striving toward the ideal of the Übermensch. Sometimes tenuously translated as superman but meaning overperson, the ideal of the Übermensch is not a goal that can be achieved but is instead characterized by striving passionately and creatively to overcome oneself, living life to the fullest, constantly combating and overcoming obstacles to become greater, or in existential terms, transcending.