Philosophy's boldest line:
"God is Dead"
Everyone on the internet misunderstands it...
A thread on what Nietzsche actually meant (and why it matters):
1/ In The Gay Science (1882), Nietzsche announces God's death as a tragedy...NOT a celebration
For Nietzsche, God wasn't a useless burden, a liability, or an irrational filter that distorted our view of reality. The metaphors Nietzsche uses for God are reverential
Let's see...
2/ Nietzsche compares God to Sun
Sun holds planets in their orbit; similarly God oriented us. Unchained from our sun, "are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions?" Our center of gravity is gone - we're hurtling through "an infinite nothing"
3/ God as horizon. Nietzsche asks: "Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon?" The horizon keeps sailors on track when at sea. The horizon provides direction and holds the promise of ports to dock at. With the horizon wiped off, where do we look to in stormy seas?
4/ God as light. The madman who announces God's death in The Gay Science is carrying a lit lantern in broad daylight. He's mocked by the normies around him but they miss the point: Without God, we must now carry our own fragile flames. Illumination is no longer a given
5/ Who killed God? WE did. This task was "too great for us." Nietzsche asks: "What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent?" Notice the somber tone...there's no hint of a juvenile adolescent celebration
6/ Our cosmic father is dead, and we are now orphans in a hostile universe. Nietzsche wonders if we must now "become gods" simply to justify what we did...
7/ There are profound implications to God's death; these will unfold over centuries. Faith in God's existence underpinned a lot of what we take for granted. Doesnt the idea of human rights/equality come from the notion of each created in God's image?
Everything will be rethought
8/ Faith in God was the invisible foundation for much of civilization; it's all now on shaky ground. We will need new justifications, new fixed horizons, new sources of illumination, and new reliable centers of gravity. WHO is creative enough to build all of this from scratch?
9/ Bottomline. Nietzsche: "God is dead. God remains dead." Now who/what will do God's job? The tasks done by even the concept of God are too numerous for a simple conceptual replacement. God's death has left a void; to even begin to fill it requires great daring and creativity...
10/ MUST READ: Nietzsche's full passage announcing the death of God
It reveals the central spiritual crisis of modern man...
Here it is:
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