There are few philosophical quotes as well know but misunderstood than Frederick Nietzsche’s quote “God is dead”. This phrase first appeared in an 1882 collection of Nietzsche’s work entitled The Gay Science and since then has be a prime example of the inherent controversy involved with philosophy. However, despite the phrase evoking strong reactions and being parodied in pop culture, very few people are aware of what it actually means. In order to understand what Nietzsche meant by “God is dead” one must first understand his theory on ethics, the larger context in it was written, and why he wrote it. A large portion of the frequent misunderstanding of Nietzsche and his work comes from the fact that he has a rather unusual approach to ethics
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. . . At least it is certain Israel, with its revenge and revaluation of all former values, has triumphed repeatedly over all other ideals, all nobler (Nietzsche 18)
It was in this act of killing the embodiment of the love of slaves thus solidifying Jesus as a divine figured that God was killed. God’s death was not an actual death but rather an emasculating that made him a symbol of slave ideals. Nietzsche thought the supremacy of slave morality was holding many people back from reaching their full potential as masters therefore if we want to progress then we can no longer look to religion, so all intents and purposes God is dead. While most people are only familiar with the phrase “God is dead.” many are unaware that is a part of a larger quote that helps to give a context and deeper understanding to it. The first use of the original full quote is from a collection of Nietzsche’s work entitled The Gay Science and is the …show more content…
Nietzsche wanted to move mankind out of traditional slave morality and enter a period of reemergence of master morality. For that purposes of moving to what he believed was the next stage of morality God was dead. Despite widespread misinterpretation the phrase “God is Dead” is not a celebratory statement but rather one lamenting the loss of a period of time that Nietzsche believed was the natural
. . . At least it is certain Israel, with its revenge and revaluation of all former values, has triumphed repeatedly over all other ideals, all nobler (Nietzsche 18)
It was in this act of killing the embodiment of the love of slaves thus solidifying Jesus as a divine figured that God was killed. God’s death was not an actual death but rather an emasculating that made him a symbol of slave ideals. Nietzsche thought the supremacy of slave morality was holding many people back from reaching their full potential as masters therefore if we want to progress then we can no longer look to religion, so all intents and purposes God is dead. While most people are only familiar with the phrase “God is dead.” many are unaware that is a part of a larger quote that helps to give a context and deeper understanding to it. The first use of the original full quote is from a collection of Nietzsche’s work entitled The Gay Science and is the …show more content…
Nietzsche wanted to move mankind out of traditional slave morality and enter a period of reemergence of master morality. For that purposes of moving to what he believed was the next stage of morality God was dead. Despite widespread misinterpretation the phrase “God is Dead” is not a celebratory statement but rather one lamenting the loss of a period of time that Nietzsche believed was the natural