Lou Salomé and I he Quest for Intimacy 263example, who was roundly criticized by Nietzsche, wholeheartedly
endorsed the idea of biological elevation. Nietzsche found fault not with
this Darwinist idea of development but only with Strauss's prosaic
notions of a higher type of man who was still domesticated. Eugen
Dühring in particular, whom Nietzsche had quoted extensively and
from whom he had learned a great deal (although he later spoke of
Dühring only in mocking tones), developed an elaborate argument to
show that evolution condemns most species to degeneration and extinc-
tion, but that an incredible success was imminent for man. He wrote that
all indications pointed to a development "that would someday not lead
man to death, but instead transform man into a refined, substantially dif-
ferent species" (Benz 102).
The Übermensch viewed as a biological type certainly came across as a
voguish figure of Darwinism, which was quite discomfiting for
Nietzsche. He was wary of the trendiness of his visions. He wanted in
particular to keep his distance from vulgar Darwinism, especially the
arena of pamphleteering, and ensure that his Übermensch was something
original and unique.
Nietzsche sought to shed another potential affinity with Thomas
Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson as well, although he had made com-
plimentary statements about the latter in the past. Carlyle and Emerson
had also expressed the idea that mankind could and would culminate in
a series of Übermenschen: heroes, geniuses, saints, and other figures in
whom creative humanity is displayed impressively and rousingly in the
areas of art, politics, science, and warfare. Here, too, the idea of devel-
opment was crucial, because Cadyle and Emerson recalled figures like
Luther, Shakespeare, and Napoleon not only as isolated instances but as
heralds of a far-reaching qualitative transformation of the human race.
Nietzsche vehemendy denied any tie to Darwinist or idealist concep-
tions of the Übermensch. In Ecce Homo, he complained that his idea of the
Übermensch had been completely misunderstood: "The word Übermensch
to designate a type of supreme achievement, as opposed to 'modern'
men, 'good' men, Christians, and other nihilists (a word that in the