Nietzsche Essays (1594 words) - Friedrich Nietzsche, God Is Dead

Nietzsche could have written The Gay Science differently. What justifies the style of composition he chose? More importantly, is his style of writing effective? What relation do you see between the style of his writing and the content of thought it expresses? Nietzsche's style of writing was a deliberate stylistic choice meant to hide the meaning of his work and philosophy from those who would not be able to understand it, and through there misunderstanding would abuse it. This writing style was also meant to help support and give meaning to Nietzsche's arguments on the nature of language and how language is, at its root a metaphor describing an object that is disconnected from us. Nietzsche's work broke down language to its metaphorical roots and explored the nature of how our language is disconnected from the objective reality around us. Nietzsche uses the metaphorical roots of our language to show that words and language our fundamentally disconnected because of the subjective nature of language. Nietzsche shows these metaphorical roots by showing how simple words and phrases that we use in our everyday life are really disconnected or at least removed by the barrier of language. Language is a serious of metaphor's all describing how an object subjectively appears to the individual. No language can describe what it is like to "be" that object, nor properly describe what it is that makes the object what it is. All language can do is provide a vehicle through which man can communicate what he is subjectively experiencing and relate it via a metaphor to another individual who will only get a idea of what is being described rather than an actual concrete description. 2) In sections 124, 343, and 377, Nietzsche claims that, following the death of God, human beings find themselves "in the horizon of the infinite," on the "open sea," and "homeless." What are the consequences of the death of God? With reference to section 347, discuss the ambiguity of this new found freedom. How might it terrify some people and empower others? The consequences for the death of god are far reaching and and many in Nietzsche's work. Christianity sparked the death of God as most of us know him through the actions of Martin Luther. Luther's desire to give the common man the ability to understand and read the bible brought a end to the churches monopoly on morality and brought the "divine" to the common man making the common man "divine". Luther's desire to develop the christian consciences unwittingly lead to the downfall of not only God but also spelled the end of the Churches stranglehold on morality. Man is left with no other option other than to be free after Gods death. The absolute moral and metaphysical world that m an had known has been turned on its head. What was known is now unknown and what was absolute is now unsure. Now that man is left with no absolutes after Gods untimely demise, man must beside for himself his own way, his own right or wrong and man must be responsible for the consequences of his own actions. The individual can only find guidance in himself and must be responsible for his own life. Man is blessed and cursed with the freedom that comes from Gods death. Some will flee into the darkness of denial, seek refuge in herd, the state or in a new shadow of the deceased God. These people flee from the new found freedom because they do not wish to be responsible for their own life, they do not wish to lose the bliss that comes from having a defined and absolute path or guide to follow. These people flee in terror because they believe that man will loose of civility and decency, they fear responsibility and accountability and so they flee. While their will be those who flee into the darkness of new dark age of mysticism and collectivism, their will also be those, those who understand what Nietzsche meant will be empowered by their new found freedom and control of their destiny. Those who feel empowered will be thankful to break free from the outdated rigid morality of God and the