Nietzsche is a super-brilliant, multi-talented philosopher who is widely misunderstood even today. People have taken his statements, twisted them around to suit their purposes and completely trashed the intention behind what he wrote. They take a few sentences and, without reading the complex material behind it, make generalizations.
This is understandable, because Nietzsche wrote a lot in his short life. He is the originator of the sentence: “God is dead.” This caused a lot of outrage when he said it and continues to reverberate today. Did he mean that the Source Energy of the Universe is no longer operative? No. He meant that the old, paternalistic man in the sky who is looking over everyone’s shoulder and waiting to punish them or reward them, is no longer relevant to the modern, thinking person.
Nietzsche has been called “the antichrist” for his “God is dead” statement. And he has also been misinterpreted to support the Nazi concept of the Übermensch or the “overman” or superior man over the Jews. This was not Nietzsche’s intention either. Throughout his whole life he detested antisemitism. He was referring to what could take place after the death of the old God. He said a new person will emerge, someone who creates new values.
Granted, the “overman “does not follow morality of common people since that means going along with herd mentality, but it has nothing to do with exterminating the Jews. Instead, it s about spiritual evolution, where morality and justice are not based on superstition but on self-awareness and overcoming traditional views. In this way, he is very much like Kant and his categorical imperative: We do good things because that is the right thing to do, not because God will punish us if we don’t.
This is understandable, because Nietzsche wrote a lot in his short life. He is the originator of the sentence: “God is dead.” This caused a lot of outrage when he said it and continues to reverberate today. Did he mean that the Source Energy of the Universe is no longer operative? No. He meant that the old, paternalistic man in the sky who is looking over everyone’s shoulder and waiting to punish them or reward them, is no longer relevant to the modern, thinking person.
Nietzsche has been called “the antichrist” for his “God is dead” statement. And he has also been misinterpreted to support the Nazi concept of the Übermensch or the “overman” or superior man over the Jews. This was not Nietzsche’s intention either. Throughout his whole life he detested antisemitism. He was referring to what could take place after the death of the old God. He said a new person will emerge, someone who creates new values.
Granted, the “overman “does not follow morality of common people since that means going along with herd mentality, but it has nothing to do with exterminating the Jews. Instead, it s about spiritual evolution, where morality and justice are not based on superstition but on self-awareness and overcoming traditional views. In this way, he is very much like Kant and his categorical imperative: We do good things because that is the right thing to do, not because God will punish us if we don’t.
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