Abstract

There is a widespread consensus that conceptions of human nature or, in a very specific German term, Menschenbilder, are fundamental to human self-understanding and the organization of society. “Ideas of human nature are the most potent ideas there are.”. However, despite this fact, there are hardly any publications offering general, theoretical examinations about Menschenbilder, their functions and effects. In this paper, a first step towards formulating such a general concept of Menschenbilder will be made by elaborating Friedrich Nietzsche’s understanding of that term. According to him, Menschenbilder are commonly shared bundles of beliefs about core qualities of being human that exert a deep influence on individuals and society. Nietzsche not only gave this term its specific modern meaning but also laid ground for an important concept of which the analytical potential still has to be discovered.