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I have been reading Walter Kauffman's books about Nietzsche and came across the sentence

Goethe served Nietzsche as a perfect model of overman.

Nietzsche was hugely influenced by Goethe (providing background information). Does the sentence mean that to Nietzsche, Goethe was a perfect example of an overman?

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    Yes, that is what it means.
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented Oct 21, 2019 at 4:57
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    Overman is not English. It is an invented term to try to translate “Übermensch” (I guess) for which no single-word English translation exists. (Shaw uses the term “superman” in his play, but the subsequent comic strip makes that unusable now. Kauffman would have done better to retain the Herman after *explaining” what the word implies.
    – David
    Commented Oct 21, 2019 at 7:26
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    Is your question about the lack of the word an in the sentence? Please clarify.
    – David M
    Commented Oct 21, 2019 at 8:25

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By deleting the indefinite article an he's referring to the concept or philosophy: overman. He could have similarly said:

Goethe served Neitzche as a perfect model of fatherhood.

Overman is an unusual example because the philosophy is named in a way that seems like a description of an individual.

Note that in my example above we can't say: a fatherhood. Instead we'd say: a father.

So, yes, he could say:

Goethe served Nietzsche as a perfect model for an overman.

But, the semantic meaning shifts slightly in the same way that substituting a father for fatherhood would in my example sentence.

Side note: übermensch is a well-recognized word to the English speaking audience. It's not clear why the author felt the need to translate it past the initial introduction.

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