Premium Essay

An Argument In Defense Of Nietzsche's 'Madman'

Submitted By
Words 1661
Pages 7
Is God Dead and Have We Killed Him?
An Argument in Defense of Nietzsche's “Madman.” “Incipit tragoedia,” Nietzsche exclaims at the closing of The Gay Science, but what stands before this tragedy? What has happened to usher in such a fatal turn to the “goat song”? The answer lies in Nietzsche's claim that, “God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!” (Nietzsche 141-142). There can be little argument that these enraged words of Nietzsche are reveled by atheists and agnostic alike. On the other hand, theists acquainted with his writings revile them. Are there grounds to be correspondingly joyous and offended? Does the announcement carry any concern? Can the proclamation carry both joy and offense? What if the passage is being taken too literally? This is what needs to be investigated! The real question then is what exactly Nietzsche means when he asserts, “God is Dead...And we have killed him!” (Nietzsche 141-142). In order to answer these questions, I intend to argue, through a critical exposition of Nietzsche’s claim, that God - that is the “cause” of Him - although not completely …show more content…
Here is the madman, ridiculed in the marketplace. Does anyone attempt to help him in his search for God? No! Instead, he is mocked and looked at like a fool. Do these actions not give weight to a claim that God is not being taken seriously? Does anyone in the marketplace accuse the madman of blasphemy? This is exactly what Nietzsche is driving at. God, rather the “cause” that is He, has now become little more than a joke, a sideshow, a cause for entertainment. The once great importance that God had in structuring the lives of people is now ineffectual. “God is dead…And we are killing him!” (Nietzsche 142). Both symptom and cause are negating each other in

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Hello

...IRWIN PHILOSOPHY/POP CULTURE S E R I E S R Can drugs take us down the rabbit-hole? R Is Alice a feminist icon? curiouser To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com and WILLIAM IRWIN is a professor of philosophy at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen and Philosophy. curiouser RICHARD BRIAN DAVIS is an associate professor of philosophy at Tyndale University College and the coeditor of 24 and Philosophy. R I C H A R D B R I A N D AV I S AND PHILOSOPHY Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has fascinated children and adults alike for generations. Why does Lewis Carroll introduce us to such oddities as a blue caterpillar who smokes a hookah, a cat whose grin remains after its head has faded away, and a White Queen who lives backward and remembers forward? Is it all just nonsense? Was Carroll under the influence? This book probes the deeper underlying meaning in the Alice books and reveals a world rich with philosophical life lessons. Tapping into some of the greatest philosophical minds that ever lived— Aristotle, Hume, Hobbes, and Nietzsche—Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy explores life’s ultimate questions through the eyes of perhaps the most endearing ...

Words: 70265 - Pages: 282

Free Essay

Etodasdjasf Asfhasf

...[pic] Narcissistic And Psychopathic Leaders 1st EDITION Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. Τηε “υτηορ ισ ΝΟΤ α Μενταλ Ηεαλτη Προφεσσιοναλ. Τηε “υτηορ ισ χερτιφιεδ ιν Χουνσελλινγ Τεχηνιθυεσ. Εδιτινγ ανδ Δεσιγν: Λιδιϕα Ρανγελοϖσκα “ Ναρχισσυσ Πυβλιχατιονσ Ιμπριντ Πραγυε & Σκοπϕε 2009 ♥ 2009 Χοπψριγητ Λιδιϕα Ρανγελοϖσκα Ναρχισσυσ Πυβλιχατιονσ “λλ ριγητσ ρεσερϖεδ. Τηισ βοοκ, ορ ανψ παρτ τηερεοφ, μαψ νοτ βε υσεδ ορ ρεπροδυχεδ ιν ανψ μαννερ ωιτηουτ ωριττεν περμισσιον φρομ: Λιδιϕα Ρανγελοϖσκα ? ωριτε το: palma@unet.com.mk ορ το vaksam@mt.net.mk “λλ ριγητσ φορ τηισ βοοκ αρε φορ σαλε. Λιτεραρψ αγεντσ ανδ πυβλισηερσ, πλεασε χονταχτ Λιδιϕα Ρανγελοϖσκα. |Το γετ ΦΡΕΕ υπδατεσ οφ τηισ βοοκ ϑΟΙΝ τηε Ναρχισσισμ Στυδψ Λιστ. | |Το ϑΟΙΝ, ϖισιτ ουρ Ωεβ σιτεσ: | |http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/narclist.html ορ | |http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/narclist.html ορ | |http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narcissisticabuse | ςισιτ τηε “υτηορ∍σ Ωεβ σιτε: http://samvak.tripod.com Βυψ οτηερ βοοκσ αβουτ πατηολογιχαλ ναρχισσισμ ανδ ρελατιονσηιπσ ωιτη αβυσιϖε ναρχισσιστσ ανδ πσψχηοπατησ ηερε: http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/thebook.html Χρεατεδ βψ: Λιδιϕα Ρανγελοϖσκα, Σκοπϕε ΡΕΠΥΒΛΙΧ ΟΦ Μ“ΧΕΔΟΝΙ“ Χ Ο Ν Τ Ε Ν Τ Σ Pathological Narcissism – An Overview A Primer on Narcissism and the Narcissistic Personality Disorder...

Words: 32352 - Pages: 130

Free Essay

Kiki

...THE B L A C K SWAN The HIGHLY I mpact IM of the PROBABLE Nassim Nicholas Taleb U.S.A. $26.95 Canada $34.95 is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpre­ dictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9 / 1 1 . For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. A BLACK SWAN Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate oppor­ tunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the "impossible." For years, Taleb has studied how we fool our­ selves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. Now, in this reve­ latory book, Taleb explains everything we know about what we don't know. He offers...

Words: 158140 - Pages: 633

Premium Essay

Harold Bloom

...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...

Words: 239932 - Pages: 960