Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses/Telemachus/022

thumb|600px|center|page=25 Annotations red Carlisle girl, Lily5A red-haired girl seen on Carlisle Pier in Kingstown (Dunleary). Uebermensch ... the supermen5(German) literally Superman.Gifford (1988) 27.Thornton (1968) 26. The Übermensch is a philosophical concept introduced by Thomas Carlyle in 1840 in his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History.Wikipedia entry on Great Man Theory The book proposed that "The history of the world is but the biography of great men,"Hirsch E.D. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (Third Edition) Houghton Mifflin Company Boston 2002 and that each era of human civilization was defined by the abilities and religion of its Übermensch. Used this way, Joyce would be advocating that his heroes are the defining force behind their society. However, Herbert Spencer believed the causal relationship worked the opposite way. Instead, he argued that society defined its own Übermensch.Spencer Herbert The Study of Sociology Appleton 1896 34 It is also possible that Joyce believes that his unassuming heroes are Übermenschen in that they are the obvious result of the society in which they live. However, Joyce refers quite clearly to another work at 022.36. Mulligan says the title of a different work: Thus Spake Zarathustra. This references the Übermensch concept as discussed by Friedrich Nietzsche in 1883 in his book Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra). Nietzsche used the term to describe a human being who has successfully transcended or surpassed human nature, one who has freed himself from Christian morality and spiritualism, one who has evolved to a higher state. See also 050.14. References Annotations to James Joyce's UlyssesPreceding Page | Page Index | Next Page