Last man

The last man (German: der letzte Mensch) is a term used by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra to describe the antithesis of the imagined superior being, the "Übermensch", whose imminent appearance is heralded by Zarathustra. This 'Over Man' may be contrasted to a weak-willed individual, one who is tired of life, takes no risks, seeks only comfort and security: the last man.

Nietzsche saw that nothing great is possible for the Last Man, and it is Nietzsche's contention that Western civilization (Europe) is moving in the direction of the last man, an apathetic creature, who has no great passion or commitment, who is unable to dream, who merely earns his living and keeps warm.

One of Nietzsche's greatest fears was the creeping mediocrity brought about by democratic "freedom" and universal equality. If the "Übermensch" represented his ideal – the ideal of a being strong enough to create a new master morality, strong enough to live without the consolation of an egalitarian ethics, and strong enough to recognize and embrace the eternal recurrence as the ultimate reality (echoed by Nietzche's description of the "Yes-man") – then Nietzsche’s so-called "last man" is the exact opposite.

The last man, Nietzsche predicted, would be one response to nihilism. But the full implications of the death of God had yet to unfold. As he said, "the event itself is far too great, too distant, too remote from the multitude's capacity for comprehension even for the tidings of it to be thought of as having arrived as yet."