The idea of the superman in Nietzsche's works is a fundamental element as he uses it as an establishment from which to attempt to challenge the fixed values of society. These values behind what is considered to be good and evil, he confirms, having been founded on the Christian faith serve only to hamper human potential and have no basis on the everyday experiences. His aim is to show us that for society to be able to live up to its true potential we need a new system of values which is more suited to our needs. In rejecting the idea of a God who gives values changeless and magnificent of the everyday world he gives us superman, a real individual who creates values which are confidently fixed in the everyday changing world. This is someone who, by trusting his own sense of what is good and evil succeeds better than any other. It is argued that only by following his example can we hope to improve ourselves and our society. Is the necessity of overthrowing the existing established values justified in Nietzsche's principle, and does he in fact prove that his alternatives are any better.
Mankind, in order to justify its existence, has always required some belief in a higher purpose in life. People are never satisfied with the idea that there is no meaning in anything they do or accomplish. Without such a belief, life becomes impossible to accept as the question asked by nihilism is continually before one, "why live at all?"
Nietzsche dismisses this answer to nihilism. As effective as it is he finds fault with it in that it serves to make one feel ashamed of himself and the world. In so doing this belief extinguishes an individual's hope of fully realizing his own powers and strengths as such things are viewed in a negative light as being worldly thus evil. Nietzsche ...