I have a final and I need a bit of help

[ohsimba]

For my Modern political theory class I've been asked to write a paper about Nietzsche's famous statement about the death of God, it's meaning, and if I agree or disagree. Before I answer that question I need to know something about Nietzsche though. I know that many of his earlier manuscripts were tainted by his sister so I don't really have much

Comments

[ughsassin]

from what i know about thus spoke zarathustra, he really does think jesus literally existed. then he was killed and people didn't want to let that be because it would have lost its meaning. so paul later invented god through his biblical writings. and this is where modern religion, with some supernatural god was born. this is just what i understand - jesus really lived, but then it took on mythic and not true proportions.

[hollowuvula]

Nietzsche believes in God. But only if God can dance.

[baskcen]

ughsassin had it correct. Nietzsche believed that the Judeo-Christian God was invented to give credence and sustenance to the life and teachings of Jesus, thus creating Christianity. He most definitely did not believe in God. Nor was he a nihilist, but that's another topic.

Oh, and most of his earlier works have been recovered with retranslations and editing, so much of his sister's damage has been restored. While some of his early work is much less cohesive and powerful, it is still a good read.

[ohsimba]

I thought he didn't stop at nihilism but that he thought that was a good name for the whole problem we face.

[baskcen]

Yes, he considered nihilism to be the root cause of an impending crisis of the Western world. What I meant was that he himself did not condone the advent of nihilism. But he did believe that it will lead to a crisis.

". . . culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is growing from decade to decade: restlessly, violently, headlong, like a river that wants to reach the end. . ." - Will to Power

[autopoetic]

I've heard some of his compositions, and found them sticky with sentiment, but not completely unmusical. I'm not quite sure how to translate that into a theological position though. Care to help me out?

[lovethelogos]

If Nietzsche were alive today he might be able to believe in God despite the deconstruction of metaphysics that has taken place in a lot of Neo-Orthodox Christianity. He believed the platonic world carved out by Socrates/Plato was used to justify the uglieness of the aesthetic phenomenom they were experiencing but also used to create a 'tyranny of reason' where rationality, reason, and other things were put above the creative and intuitive spirit. I don't think he believed in God. His hatred is not towards God (I can see how his strong anti-theism could be argued for it) but against the platonic heavens which have no real metaphysical basis (at least for Nietzsche). He also thinks this Platonic world is responsible for making everything uglier and unappreciated.