Year 12 are currently studying Atheism and Postmodernism, the last lesson looked at Neitzsche's slogan 'God is Dead'
To understand his key beliefs, we have posted the following BBC documentary. This provides an overview of Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher of the late 19th century who challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality. He believed in life, creativity, health, and the realities of the world we live in, rather than those situated in a world beyond.
We would like you to explain, what you think Nietzche was trying to say by stating 'God is Dead'
16 comments:
I think that what Nietzsche's father said when he was being baptised also plays a part in his beliefs today. I think that he wanted to question the traditions and think about worldly activity instead of what can happen in the here-after. Nosheen x
I think that nietzsche was trying to sat that God was dead as a result of people losing interest and adopting views of other theories like science. This as a result will have stopped people passing stories of God down generations and this would soon mean that people would not know about God effectively making him 'dead' -Punit
I think , Nietzsche was trying to express the fact that in modern society, god is becoming redundant and therefore there will be lots more freedom during this time period for the average non religious person in society, as he/she does not have to follow teachings and other religious rituals. This is also adapting to hectic modern day lives; with duties to do such as work and taking care of family life, it may become difficult to keep up with god.
Abigaile :)
Nietzsche takes into consideration that God was once alive but "we have murdered him." Although, it seems as though his thoughts are negative, he is seen as a positive thinker as he was the first to think how God affected us as people. He took on too hard a task for one man and this lead him to insanity. But before his death, he brought up the point that "Good depends on evil." In some ways he is right but if he applies this to God, he sees God as an evil creator which I think is untrue. Ammar :)
The phrase 'God is Dead', I think was not said in an attempt to cause the world to think the same way as he did, but rather to cause us to actually think for ourselves. I think he strived to show humanity that we can function perfectly well without the need for divine intervention. He said,'If you want to be a deciple of truth, seek it', basically stressing his belief that to develop one's self as a human being and explore our full potential, we must think for ourselves and create our own values with regards to morality.
I think that what Nietzsche was trying to put across in his philosophical teachings was the fact that he believed that we as humans were beginning to think more about what was going on in the World, and because of this, there were no more moral or scientific certainties - which were originally in place because of God. He was trying to cement into the minds of the nineteenth century person that there is no fixed Truth , that God is only one possible explanation for what goes on in the World, and each and every other theory, such as science, has as much credibility as God, perhaps even more.
Alex :)
i believe Nietzsche was trying to say that god has become redunant in modern society, and therefore is no longer needed in our lives, as we seem to have found other theories to explain life(eg.science)also many people have ultimate questions religion simply cannot answer. The church used to be our source for moral guidance,but nowadays people have realised that there is no fixed truth as such, as we can find morals within ourselves as the 'death of god' provoked the birth of modern society, and absolute freedom.Meaning many people have lost faith in Religion, and instead started to believe we make of life what we choose and are not controlled by some godly 'being'.
Jade,x
Nietzche's idea that 'God is dead' would give birth to absolute freedom of man and also the modern world.
He believed that the people killed God because he was no longer relevant to society.
However, the gap that God once filled in people's life, needed to be filled by something else.
Nietzche's idea that God is dead would give birth to the absolute freedom of man and the modern world.
He believed that the people killed God, because he was no longer relevant to society.
However, the gap that God once filled needed to be filled once again after his 'death' by something else.
-Amy.
Nietzsche stated that "God is dead" because society and humans have 'killed' him. He wanted humans to actually think for themselves and his philosophy was for people to think for themselves and question thing. He sadi that humans should create their own values to fullfill their potential. He thinks that when once the world relied on religion to make sense, we now have science and various other things tio take its place.
..DA-MAN..
Nietzsche stated that "God is dead". His philosophy was for people to start thinking for themselves and realising their full potential as human beings. He said that whwn we once relied on religion to explain the world, we now have science just to name one alternative. He states that society has murdered God and he was once living. His theory goes against all religious ethics.
...$DA-MAN$...
Nietzsche went against religious ethics with his statement about "God is dead". He wants human beings not to follow his philosophy but to be more active thinkers and realise their full potential as humans. He says that when once we relied on religion to explain the world, we now have science just to name one alternative. He states that God was once living and as a society we have made him redundant and killed him.
...DA-MAN...
I believe Nietzche was trying to say that there never really was a God, and that, people on said there was a God to have something to believe in. Also, it answered alot of peoples questions, as a God can create everything. But now that science can proove alot of things, people have lost faith in God, because he doesn't provide all the answers. He just provides security
Ismail
I think Nietzsche expressed what is a view from his personal life and experiences, and he wanted to proove to others that 'God is dead' as it may encourage secularisation, becuase it can be used as an excuse to go away from religious ethics and towards materialistic ways of life. And by using the word 'death' in the statement could be a way of telling us that God is irrelevent in todays society due to technological advances therefore we ourselves are killing god with rationalism and science. Charlotte B x
I think that Neitzsche was trying to explain that God was no longer a necessary part of people's lives because without him, one could experience ultimate freedom and not feel restricted or controlled by a force outside of the Universe. However, while trying to prove this, he also understood that giving people this freedom wasn't entirely positive as the lack of answers and explanations left gaps in people's lives. He wasn't successful in trying to fill these, but just wanted people to feel that they had the ability to make choices and carry out actions of their own accord rather than of something with no empirical or accessible proof.
I think that Nietsche is trying to say that there was once a God but humans have killed him and made their own rules through absolute freedom believing in the idea that they are not determined by an outside force. Good and evil was once decided but its up to humans to decide now.He realised that society has made God dead and decided to take up the role of God which led him to insanity.
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