last man

Friedrich Nietzsche

is a kind of hedonistic asceticism whereby all aspects of life are deprived of their malignant property: Coffee without caffeine, beer without alcohol, cream without fat.

This, perhaps, is what Nietzsche had in mind with his notion of the Last Man it is only today that we can really discern the contours of the Last Man, in the guise of the predominant hedonistic ascetism. In today's market, we find a whole series of products deprived of their malignant property: coffee without caffeine, cream without fat, beer without alcohol. . . and the list goes on. What about virtual sex as sex without sex, the Colin Powell doctrine of warfare with no casualties (on our side, of course) as warfare without warfare, the contemporary redefinition of politics as the art of expert administration as politics without politics, up to today's tolerant liberal multiculturalism as an experience of Other deprived of its Otherness (the idealized Other who dances fascinating dances and has an ecologically sound holistic approach to reality, while features like wife beating remain out of sight)' (Zizek 'how to read lacan' 32).

is the perverse and deplorable goal to which humanity is striving, defined by mediocrity, complacency, security, uniformity, a lack of passion, and the prevailing sense that one's own personal aims for security and pleasantness are aims common to all.

complacency: he believes himself to be happy and wishes to remain as he is, lacking all passion and commitment. Life is uniform and secure: 'Everyone wants the same, everyone is the same' (Za, 'Zarathustra's Prologue': 5). (Diethe 165)

is the pitiful mediocre end result of nihilism where happiness will be the absence of worry.

the pitiful mediocre end esult of nihilism where happiness will be the absence of worry. (the opposite of overman)

last man, n.All

last man