The Death of God in Nietzsche Argumentative Essay by Shaad
The Death of God in Nietzsche
An explanation of Nietzsche's claim that God is dead and how it relates to his philosophy as a whole.
# 147068
| 1,451 words
| 7 sources
| APA
| 2010
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Description:
This paper explains what Nietzsche means to say through his claim that God is dead. As it points out, the author is alluding to the incapacity of modern man to comprehend the supremacy of God. It goes on to explicate the consequences, which includes the adoption of philosophy as a substitute for belief in God, which Nietzsche calls a decadent mode. The paper also implies the need of man to overcome his limitations, to transcend himself, and thereby to become "overman", being at peace with "eternal recurrence". It also explains why Nietzsche's claim does not constitute atheism proper, pointing out that atheism implies dogma, and that Nietzsche is free of dogma. The paper also goes on to elucidate the author's own brand of "philosophy" in which absolutes are avoided and where meaning comes through pithy and poetic aphorisms.
From the Paper:
"Nietzsche does not imply a physical death when he says that God is dead. Rather, he is suggesting that the sublime essence contained in the notion of God, as was felt by our distant forebears, has vanished from the perception of modern man. It is not only the atheists and agnostics that he refers to. Even more than these groups he opposed organised Christianity, and he directs much of his writings against it. The consequence is that man is compelled to raise himself in order to fill the space left vacant by the deceased Deity. In the specific words of Nietzsche, man must overcome himself, and thus become ``overman''. Indeed, a significant part of Nietzsche's writing is engaged in the task of directing towards this end, especially his later works. But he is fain to call this new worldview a philosophy. The tendency to philosophize is a disease in his eyes, and was indeed the measure of the decadence of the age."Sample of Sources Used:
- Kant, I. (1986). Lectures on Philosophical Theology. Translated by Allen W. Wood, Gertrude M. Clark. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- Kaufmann, W. A. (1974). Nietzsche, Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- Nietzsche, F. W. (2001). The Gay Science. Translated by Josefine Nauckhoff, Adrian Del Caro. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Nietzsche, F. W. (1989). On the Genealogy of Morals: Ecce homo. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Vintage Books.
- Nietzsche, F. W. (2006). The Nietzsche Reader. (Ed) K. Ansell-Pearson and D. Large. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Cite this Argumentative Essay:
APA Format
The Death of God in Nietzsche (2011, February 13)
Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/argumentative-essay/the-death-of-god-in-nietzsche-147068/
MLA Format
"The Death of God in Nietzsche" 13 February 2011.
Web. 24 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/argumentative-essay/the-death-of-god-in-nietzsche-147068/>