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by Ender is back.. And slightly confused. on July 23rd, 2007

Ender is back.. And slightly confused.

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Nietzsche said "God is dead." Was he right? Why or why not?

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  • by Greg Griffin on July 24th, 2007

    Greg Griffin

    Nietzsche did not llterally mean "God is physically dead". Nietzsche was a wonderful, deeply misunderstood philosopher (mainly due to his sister's (Elizabeth if memory serves) antics after his death ws he assosciated with the anti-semetic movemnt etc which Nietzsche himself abhored)

    He was making the point that God, or Christianity, was no longer recognised by humans as the source of absolute morality. It is a concept that could lead to Nihilism, the utter rejection of any universal moral law or code. Nietzsche thought that the rejection of this 'imposed' morality would lead to a blank canvas. Only by presionally overcoming one's internal Nihilism and becoming Ubermensch (Overmen a type of mythic hero). THis was Nietzsche 's goal following his realisation that "God is dead"; ro reevaluate all values without appealing to Universal Absolutes as represented by God.

    So is God dead? Do we look to God for our moral absolutes? I don't think we do, not even the most die hard evangelical could claim to follow the teachings of the Bible literally, whilst alot of us have no religious input to our moral position whatsoever.

    So as Nietzsche meant the phrase I think he was making a very valid point. Interestingly Nietzsche also said that whilst God was dead his shadow continued to survive in many places and to become true Ubermensch we needed to kill God's shadow as well. :)

    Comments

    • Finally, someone who understands what Nietzsche actually (or probably, seeing as he is open to so many interpretations) meant. Thanks for your answer! =)

      Ender is back.. And slightly confused.

      by Ender is back.. And slightly confused. on July 24th, 2007

    • Agreed! Superb, Greg! ;-)

      philosopher-saint

      by philosopher-saint on December 22nd, 2008

    • I gotta say, great username, weare!
      ;-)

      philosopher-saint

      by philosopher-saint on December 22nd, 2008

    • Yes, now that you mention it, it likely would! Especially the most egregious hypocrites!
      ;-)

      philosopher-saint

      by philosopher-saint on December 22nd, 2008

    • Agreed. Built into our existence *and* 'essence', as social creatures!
      Ya' know, I gotta confess, I like the way you think! (And that particular phrase, for me, is [until now] universally reserved for females!)
      ;-)

      philosopher-saint

      by philosopher-saint on December 23rd, 2008

    • Well, don't go *that* far, dude! In this particular instance, it really just means that I like the way you think!! (perhaps unlike previous usages)!
      ;-)

      philosopher-saint

      by philosopher-saint on December 23rd, 2008

    • There, this is exactly the answer that was needed for this question.

      Anonymous

      by Anonymous on December 5th, 2009

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