102,800
edits
Changes
From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to search→Nietzsche's voice
Although Nietzsche puts the statement "God is Dead" into the mouth of a "madman" in ''The Gay Science'', he also uses the phrase in his own voice in sections 108 and 343 of the same book. In the madman's passage, the man is described as running through a marketplace shouting, "I seek God! I seek God!" He arouses some amusement; no one takes him seriously. Maybe he took an ocean voyage? Lost his way like a little child? Maybe he's afraid of us (non-believers) and is hiding?-- much laughter. Frustrated, the madman smashes his lantern on the ground, crying out that "God is dead, and we have killed him, you and I!" "But I have come too soon," he immediately realizes, as his detractors of a minute before stare in astonishment: people cannot yet see that they have killed God. He goes on to say:
Although Nietzsche puts the statement "God is Dead" into the mouth of a "madman" in ''The Gay Science'', he also uses the phrase in his own voice in sections 108 and 343 of the same book. In the madman's passage, the man is described as running through a marketplace shouting, "I seek God! I seek God!" He arouses some amusement; no one takes him seriously. Maybe he took an ocean voyage? Lost his way like a little child? Maybe he's afraid of us (non-believers) and is hiding?-- much laughter. Frustrated, the madman smashes his lantern on the ground, crying out that "God is dead, and we have killed him, you and I!" "But I have come too soon," he immediately realizes, as his detractors of a minute before stare in astonishment: people cannot yet see that they have killed God. He goes on to say:
:"This prodigious event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the most distant stars—''and yet they have done it themselves''.(trans. Walter Kaufmann, The Gay Science, sect. 125)
Earlier in the book (section 108), Nietzsche wrote "God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we — we still have to vanquish his shadow, too." The protagonist in ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'' also speaks the words, commenting to himself after visiting a hermit who, every day, sings songs and lives to glorify his god:
Earlier in the book (section 108), Nietzsche wrote "God is Dead; but given the way of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown. And we — we still have to vanquish his shadow, too." The protagonist in ''[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]'' also speaks the words, commenting to himself after visiting a hermit who, every day, sings songs and lives to glorify his god:
:"And what is the [[saint]] doing in the forest?' asked Zarathustra. The saint answered: 'I make songs and sing them; and when I make songs, I laugh, cry, and hum: thus do I praise God. With singing, crying, laughing, and humming do I praise the god who is my god. But what do you bring us as a gift?' When Zarathustra had heard these words he bade the saint farewell and said: 'What could I have to give you? But let me go quickly lest I take something from you!' And thus they separated, the old one and the man, laughing as two boys laugh. <p>But when Zarathustra was alone he spoke thus to his heart: 'Could it be possible? This old saint in the forest has not yet heard anything of this, that God ''is dead!'''(trans. Walter Kaufmann, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Prologue, sect. 2.)
What is more, Zarathustra later refers, not only to the death of God, but that 'Dead are all the Gods'. It is not just one morality that has died, but all of them, to be replaced by the life of the übermensch, the new man:
What is more, Zarathustra later refers, not only to the death of God, but that 'Dead are all the Gods'. It is not just one morality that has died, but all of them, to be replaced by the life of the übermensch, the new man:
:"DEAD ARE ALL THE GODS: NOW DO WE DESIRE THE SUPERMAN TO LIVE.'(trans. Thomas Common, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Part I, Section XXII,3)
Coming across in a hymn of [[Martin Luther]] what [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]] described as ''the cruel words'', ''the harsh utterance'', namely, ''God is dead'', the latter was perhaps the first great philosopher to develop the theme of God's death according to whom, to one form of experience, God is dead. Commenting on [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s first ''Critique'', [[Heinrich Heine]] spoke of ''a dying God''. Heine influenced Nietzsche. Since Heine and Nietzsche the phrase ''Death of God'' became popular. (K Satchidananda Murty, ''The Realm of Between'', IIAS,1973)-->
Coming across in a hymn of [[Martin Luther]] what [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]] described as ''the cruel words'', ''the harsh utterance'', namely, ''God is dead'', the latter was perhaps the first great philosopher to develop the theme of God's death according to whom, to one form of experience, God is dead. Commenting on [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s first ''Critique'', [[Heinrich Heine]] spoke of ''a dying God''. Heine influenced Nietzsche. Since Heine and Nietzsche the phrase ''Death of God'' became popular. (K Satchidananda Murty, ''The Realm of Between'', IIAS,1973)-->
