What did Nietzsche mean with "God is dead"?

[Solly]

"Friedrich Nietzsche. The Gay Science (1882), section 126"

Looking for a banning?

We're not allowed to say *** any more. It's too offensive.

[MikeH]

Not allowed to say 126?

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by paiktis22


Well I kind of made a self inflicting injury and I bought the book for myself. It is one of the very few books, actually basically the only one I've encountered, where I just couldn't make sense of it! Not in the slightest! Maybe it's the translation but it really didn't make any sense to me. I suppose it's one of these books where it's good to have some guidance when reading it. But it wasn't even proper greek... some kind of strange language.

In the late 16th century there was a popular "Faust" book, which had however quite a different meaning. In this older book Dr.Faust (which really existed, btw) makes a pact with the devil (as in Goethe´s book) to get more knowledge, and then has to pay the price - his life. This book was more intendet to "warn" of the idea that humans should strive for more knowledge (to become god-like) - you have to see it on the background of the time, in conflict between the christian morals, and newer developments like humanism, boom in natural sciences etc....

Then the story became popular on theatres as well, Goethe saw as a child one of these plays, and he tried later several "versions" before his own "Faust" was released. He transforms the basic idea from the popular book into a great tragedy so full of facettes that even Goethe himself admitted the book (or at least esp. part II) is very hard to read.

However the main theme of Goethe´s Faust is what it means to be human, what individual autonomy is, and where human limits are (if there are any ).

[The Mad Monk]

There you go AGAIN!

[Whaleboy]

He said it not as a celebration. Reading his work on nihilism it would seem that he was writing it as an antithesis to what he was purporting. It still rules!

[Sava]

It's pretty obvious, don't you think?

plus, Nietzche is a nutbag... I heard he used to talk to his horse.


LARRY HORSE!

only Ming and rah will get that one...

[Guynemer]

...bereft of life, he rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed him to the perch...er...church, he'd be pushing up daisies! He's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible!

and so on and so forth.

[GePap]

Nietzsche states that men makes gods, and that, as MikeH said, the belief in the Christian God was on its way out.

[Meticulous Man]

Thanks people, that makes a lot of sense. I was kind of expecting something more complicated.

[OzzyKP]

Basically Nietzsche wanted people to worship him as a new, human god, so he had to debase and attack the God everyone followed.

[BeBMan]

Originally posted by Aivo½so
Thanks people, that makes a lot of sense. I was kind of expecting something more complicated.

Nah, Nietzsche is kinda simplistic

*runs before GePap and Whaleboy send their black helis*

[OzzyKP]

BeBro, I've got an Asbestos suit I can let you borrow. I think we both need to suit up in advance of the inevitable flaming.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Ecthelion
What did Faithless mean with "God is a DJ"?

They meant "we've taken a lot of ecstacy"

[Ecthy]

not allowed to say what? gay? ***?

[Whoha]

He meant that people were getting less and less religious&spiritual I think, er what Mike said.