The Superhuman, day 10 (midterm)

Friday, February 4, 2005 » school update

The prompt:

What to do when man, as we knew him when God the father knew best, is over, man? Without a divine witness out there how are we going to find meaning for (and thus endure) our suffering? There's always the way out of rest in peace. On the way out: here's looking at you, kid. But what if man's being "over" means that we, as transhumans, are on the way to the superman? What affirmations would this prospect herald and require? Consider these shifting conceptions of humanity within the grid of valuation. The will to meaning or distinction animates intelligent life by introducing a conflict between two frames of values—between, on one hand, the distinction between good and bad and, on the other hand, its transformation, via the defense of splitting and revenge, or doubling and getting even, into the opposition between evil and good. Explore this conflict as elucidated between Nietzsche and Freud, in Batman Returns, and in at least two of the various excerpts or clips assigned for and projected in class. Please give consideration to the political contexts or contests within which we engage in the thought experiment of the superhuman.

Don't worry, I definitely wrote about the X-Men. I didn't have time to work in Last Action Hero, unfortunately.