Kierkegaard & Nietzsche

Class 3
May 3, 2006
The Main Ideas Of SK and N!"nd #$% It &elates T$ The
'(eath Of )$d*
Returning back to the chart included in class 1(with additions)
Kierkegaard Nietzsche
#ierarchy $f
+al,es
Aesthetic: lowest level of
despair; consuming life; Diar of
A !educer; life lived on the
surface; plaing with life and
with the lives of others
"thical: tring to embod a
universal ideal#$udge %ilhelm;
commitment to an human other&
marriage; choosing an ethical
sstem
Religious: highest level of
e'istence#e'periencing guilt
(A) and then trul reali(ing one)s
own shortcoming& sin (*); the
distant between the infinite and
the finite& between +od , the
human& submitting to the
-reator
Religious: anti.life& for the weak
onl; the refuge of those without
the abilit or will to create a new
self (slave moralit)
"thical: seeking securit in herd
values; also reflective of a slave
moralit; public -hristianit&
/-hristianism0
Aesthetic: highest level of
e'istence#overman& becoming
the creator of a new self; will to
power& the choice to be an
individual& to create our life like
an artist would create his1her
masterpiece; becoming the
-reator
2he comparison used in the chart above is not 3uite fair& since the categories
(sphere of e'istence) on the left are distinctl proposed b !4 while the reversal
of those ideas on the right& attributed to 5iet(sche& don)t actuall reflect
5iet(sche)s rebuttal of !4)s ideas6 !till& it is a good wa to begin a discussion of
their ideas& especiall when it comes to their different understandings of religion6
S$ren Kierkegaard- The three s.heres $f e/istence
1
*elow is from http:11en6wikipedia6org1wiki17hilosoph8of8!
9-:9*;ren84ierkegaard
<n Stages On Life's Way 4ierkegaard posited three stages of life& or spheres of
e'istence: the esthetic& the ethical and the religious6 %hile he favored the term
=stages= earlier in his writings& we are not to conceive of them necessaril as
periods of life that one proceeds through in se3uence& but rather& as paradigms
of e'istence6 >oreover& man individuals might not traverse a certain stage& for
e'ample& the religious6
2he esthetic sphere is primaril that of self.gratification6 2he esthete en?os art&
literature and music6 "ven the *ible can be appreciated estheticall and -hrist
portraed as a tragic hero6 2he ethical sphere of e'istence applies to those who
sense the claims of dut to +od& countr& or mankind in general6
2he religious sphere is divided into Religiousness A and *6 Religiousness A
apples to the individual who feels a sense of guilt before +od6 <t is a
religiousness of immanence6 Religiousness * is transcendental in nature6 <t ma
be summed up b !t6 7aul@s phrase: =<n -hrist=6 <t consists of a radical
conversion to -hrist in the 3ualitative leap of faith6 4ierkegaard also mentions
intermediate stages& each of which he calls a confinium& or boundar6 <ron lies
between the esthetic and the ethical& and humor lies between the ethical and the
religious6
Kierkegaard0s Three Stages $f 1ife
4ierkegaard recogni(ed three levels of individual e'istence& which were the focus
of !tages on Aife@s %a6 "ach of these levels of e'istence envelops those below
it: an ethical person is still capable of aesthetic en?oment& for e'ample6 <t is also
important to note that the difference between these was of living are inward& not
e'ternal& and thus there are no e'ternal signs one can point to to determine at
what level a person is living6
Stage One- "esthetic
4ierkegaard was devoted to aesthetics& and is sometimes referred to as the
=poet.philosopher= because of the passionate wa in which he approached
philosoph6 *ut he was also devoted to showing the inade3uac of a life lived
entirel on the aesthetic level6 An aesthetic life is one defined b en?oment and
interest and possibilities6 <t is not necessaril a life lived in devotion to art#
although man artists do also live at this level of e'istence6 2here are man
degrees of aesthetic e'istence6 At the bottom& one might see the purel
consumerist lifestle6 At the top& we might find those lives which are lived in a
trul anarchic& irresponsible wa6 *ut 4ierkegaard believes that most people live
in this sphere& their lives and activities guided b en?oment and interest rather
B
than an trul deep and meaningful commitment to anthing6 %hether such
people know it or not& their lives are ones of complete despair6
CeditD
Stage T%$- 2thical
2he second level of e'istence is the ethical6 2his is where an individual begins to
take on a true direction in life& becoming genuinel aware of good and evil and
forming some absolute commitment to something6 Ene)s actions at this level of
e'istence have a consistenc and coherence that the lacked in the previous
sphere of e'istence6 For 4ierkegaard& the ethical is supremel important6 <t calls
each individual to take account of their lives and to scrutini(e their actions in
terms of universal and absolute demands6
2hese demands are made in such a wa that each individual must respond#to
be authentic#in a trul committed& passionate consciousness6 An other tpe of
response is shirking the demands of responsibilit and running awa from those
universal duties6 %hat responsibilities there are& are known to everone& et the
cannot be known in such a wa that the are simpl followed as a matter of
course6 2he must be done sub?ectivel#that is& with an understanding that
doing or not doing them has a direct result on who < will see mself as a person#
whether a good or bad person6 "thics is something < do for mself& with the
reali(ation that m entire self.understanding is involved6 2he meaning of m life
comes down to whether or not < live out these beliefs in an honest& passionate&
and devoted wa6
CeditD
Stage Three- &eligi$,s
2he ethical and the religious are intimatel connected# it is important to note
that one can have the ethical without religious& but the religious includes the
ethical6 *oth ethics and religion rest on the awareness of a realit that gives
substance to actions but which is not reducible to natural laws or to reason6
%hereas living in the ethical sphere involves a commitment to some ethical
absolute& living in the religious sphere involves a commitment to and relation to
+od6
Religion is the highest stage in human e'istence6 4ierkegaard distinguishes two
tpes within this stage& which have been called Religiousness A and
Religiousness B6 Ene tpe is smboli(ed b the +reek philosopher !ocrates&
whose passionate pursuit of the truth and individual conscience came into
conflict with his societ6 Another tpe of religiousness is one characteri(ed b the
reali(ation that the individual is sinful and is the source of untruth6 <n time&
through revelation and in direct relationship with the parado' that is $esus& the
individual begins to see that his or her eternal salvation rests on a parado'#
+od& the transcendent& coming into time in human form to redeem human
beings6 For 4ierkegaard& the ver notion of this occurring was scandalous to
human reason#indeed& it must be& and if it is not then one does not trul
understand the <ncarnation nor the meaning of human sinfulness6 For
4ierkegaard& the impulse towards an awareness of a transcendent power in the
:
universe is what religion is6 Religion has a social and an individual (not ?ust
personal) dimension6 *ut it begins with the individual and his or her awareness of
sinfulness6
From http:11en6wikipedia6org1wiki17hilosoph8of8!9-:9*;ren84ierkegaard
Nietzsche0s 3nderstanding $f the (eath $f )$d
*elow is from http:11en6wikipedia6org1wiki1+od8is8dead
)$d is dead= (+erman: =Gott ist tot=) is a widel 3uoted phrase b Friedrich
5iet(sche6 <t was first written in The Gay Science& section 1G; (5ew !truggles)&
in section 1BH (2he >adman)& and for a third time in section :I: (2he >eaning of
our -heerfulness)6 <t is also found in 5iet(sche@s classic work Also sprach
Zarathustra& which is most responsible for populari(ing the phrase6 2he full 3uote
from @2he >adman@ is as follows:
+od is dead6 +od remains dead6 And we have killed him6 Jow shall
we& murderers of all murderers& console ourselvesK 2hat which was
the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has et possessed has
bled to death under our knives6 %ho will wipe this blood off usK
%ith what water could we purif ourselvesK %hat festivals of
atonement& what sacred games shall we need to inventK <s not the
greatness of this deed too great for usK >ust we not ourselves
become gods simpl to be worth of itK
C1D
2/.lanati$n
=+od is dead= is not meant literall& as in& =+od is now phsicall dead;= rather& it
is 5iet(sche@s method of e'plicating how +od has ceased to be a reckoning force
in people@s lives& even if the do not recogni(e it6 2hus& as further propounded b
5iet(sche& it is necessar that individuals go beond normative considerations of
+od and moralit& due to what the values of -hristian moralit signif& in both
thought and action6
5iet(sche recognises the crisis which the death of +od represents for e'isting
moral considerations& because =%hen one gives up the -hristian faith& one pulls
the right to -hristian moralit out from under one@s feet6 2his moralit is b no
means self.evident6666 * breaking one main concept out of C-hristianitD& the faith
in +od& one breaks the whole: nothing necessar remains in one@s hands6=
CBD
2his
is wh in =2he >adman=& the madman addresses not believers& but atheists#the
problem is to retain an sstem of values in the absence of a divine order6
2he death of +od is a wa of saing that humans are no longer able to believe in
an such cosmic order since the themselves no longer recogni(e it6 2he death
of +od will lead& 5iet(sche sas& not onl to the re?ection of a belief of cosmic or
phsical order but also to a re?ection of absolute values themselves#to the
re?ection of belief in an ob?ective and universal moral law& binding upon all
I
individuals6 <n this manner& it leads to nihilism& and it is what 5iet(sche worked to
find a solution for b re.evaluating the foundations of human values6 2his meant&
to 5iet(sche& looking for foundations that went deeper than the -hristian values
most people refuse to look beond6
5iet(sche believed that the ma?orit of men did not recogni(e (or refused to
acknowledge) this death out of the deepest.seated fear6 2herefore& when the
death did begin to become widel acknowledged& people would despair and
nihilism would become rampant& as well as the relativistic belief that human will is
a law unto itself#anthing goes and all is permitted6 2his is partl wh 5iet(sche
saw -hristianit as nihilistic6 2o 5iet(sche& nihilism is the conse3uence of an
idealistic philosophical sstem& because all idealisms suffer from the same
weakness as -hristian moralit#that there is no =foundation= to build on6 Je
therefore describes himself as =a @subterranean man@ at work& one who tunnels
and mines and undermines6=
C:D
5iet(sche believed there could be positive possibilities for humans without +od6
Relin3uishing the belief in +od opens the wa for human@s creative abilities to
full develop6 2he -hristian +od& with his arbitrar commands and prohibitions&
would no longer stand in the wa& so human beings might stop turning their ees
toward a supernatural realm and begin to acknowledge the value of this world6
2he recognition that =+od is dead= would be like a blank canvas6 <t is a freedom
to become something new& different& creative # a freedom to be something
without being forced to accept the baggage of the past6 Aike an open sea& this
can be both e'hilarating and terrifing6 2he people who eventuall learn to create
their lives anew will represent a new stage in human e'istence& the Lbermensch6
Although 5iet(sche put the phrase =+od is Dead= into the mouth of a =madman=
in The Gay Science& he also uses the phrase in his own voice in sections 1G;
and :I: of the same book6 <n the madman@s passage& the man is described
running through a marketplace shouting& =+od is deadM +od remains deadM= Je
arouses some amusement; no one takes him seriousl6 Frustrated& the madman
smashes his lantern on the ground& cring out that he has come too soon: people
cannot et see that the have killed +od6 Je goes on to sa:
2his prodigious event is still on its wa& still wandering; it has not et
reached the ears of men6 Aightning and thunder re3uire time& the light
of the stars re3uires time& deeds& though done& still re3uire time to be
seen and heard6 2his deed is still more distant from them than the
most distant stars#and yet they have done it themselves6
# trans6 %alter 4aufmann& The Gay Science sect! "#$
"arlier in the book (section 1G;)& 5iet(sche wrote =+od is Dead; but given the
wa of men& there ma still be caves for thousands of ears in which his shadow
will be shown6 And we#we still have to van3uish his shadow& too6= 2he
protagonist in Thus Spo%e Zarathustra also speaks the words& commenting to
H
himself after visiting a hermit who& ever da& sings songs and lives to glorif his
god:
@And what is the saint doing in the forestK@ asked Narathustra6 2he
saint answered: @< make songs and sing them; and when < make
songs& < laugh& cr& and hum: thus do < praise +od6 %ith singing&
cring& laughing& and humming do < praise the god who is m god6 *ut
what do ou bring us as a giftK@ %hen Narathustra had heard these
words he bade farewell and said: @%hat could < have to give ouK *ut
let me go 3uickl lest < take something from ouM@ And thus the
separated& the old one and the man& laughing as two bos laugh6
*ut when Narathustra was alone he spoke thus to his heart: @-ould it
be possibleK 2his old saint in the forest has not et heard anthing of
this& that +od is dead&'
# trans6 %alter 4aufmann& Thus Spo%e Zarathustra 'rologue sect!
#!
-oming across in a hmn of >artin Auther what Jegel described as the cruel
(ords& the harsh utterance& namel& God is dead& the latter was perhaps the first
great philosopher to develop the theme of +od@s death according to whom& to
one form of e'perience +od is dead6 -ommenting on 4ant@s first )riti*ue&
Jeinrich Jeine spoke of a dying God6 Jeine influenced 5iet(sche6 !ince Jeine
and 5iet(sche the phrase +eath of God became popular6 (4 !atchidananda
>urt& The Realm of Bet(een& <<A!&1OP:)
(eath $f )$d M$4e5ent 6The$l$gy7
2he cover of Time maga(ine April ;& 1OQQ (reproduced above) and the
accompaning article concerned a movement in American theolog that arose in
the 1OQGs known as the =death of +od=6 2he death of +od movement is
sometimes technicall referred to as =theothanatolog=6
2he main protagonists of this theolog included the -hristian theologians +abriel
Rahanian& 7aul van *uren& %illiam Jamilton and 2homas $6 $6 Alti(er& and the
$ewish rabbi Richard Rubenstein6
<n 1OQ1 Rahanian@s book The +eath of God was published6 Rahanian argued that
modern secular culture had lost all sense of the sacred& lacking an sacramental
meaning& no transcendental purpose or sense of providence6 Je concluded that
for the modern mind =god is dead=& but he did not mean that +od did not e'ist6 <n
Rahanian@s vision a transformed post.-hristian and post.modern culture was
needed to create a renewed e'perience of deit6
*oth Ran *uren and Jamilton agreed that the concept of transcendence had lost
an meaningful place in modern thought6 According to the norms of
Q
contemporar modern thought& +od is dead6 <n responding to this collapse in
transcendence Ran *uren and Jamilton offered secular people the option of
$esus as the model human who acted in love6 2he encounter with the -hrist of
faith would be open in a church.communit6
Alti(er offered a radical theolog of the death of +od that drew upon %illiam
*lake& Jegelian thought and 5iet(schean ideas6 Je conceived of theolog as a
form of poetr in which the immanence (presence) of +od could be encountered
in faith communities6 Jowever he no longer accepted the possibilit of affirming
belief in a transcendent +od6 For Alti(er& +od had incarnated in -hrist and
imparted his immanent spirit that remains in the world even though $esus died6
Rubenstein represented that radical edge of $ewish thought working through the
impact of the Jolocaust6 <n a technical sense he maintained& based on the
4abbalah& that +od had =died= in creating the world6 Jowever& for modern $ewish
culture he argued that the death of +od occurred in Auschwit(6 <n Rubenstein@s
work it was no longer possible to believe in the +od of the Abrahamic covenant6
Je felt that the onl possibilit left for $ews was to become pagans or to create
their own meaning6
&eferences in .$.,lar c,lt,re
M,sic
=Dio S morto= (+od is dead& in <talian) is the title of a famous <talian song
written b songwriter Francesco +uccini which became a hit for the <talian
band 5omadi in 1OQH
2he bridge of "lton $ohn@s 1OPB song =Aevon= with lrics b *ernie 2aupin
contains =2he 5ew Tork 2imes said +od is dead=6
=+od is Dead= is a song b the thrash metal band -arnivore on their 1O;H
eponmous first album6 2he lrical themes in not ?ust the song& but also
the whole album deal with nihilism& Armageddon& and mankind@s savage
nature contrasted with the civili(ing aspects of religion U themes inspired
b 5iet(sche6
=+od is Dead= is the first track on the =5umb= album& published in 1O;; b
-anadian industrial band 5umb6 2he song talks about some kind of new
weird religion with =>anson >essiah=& =Aeather nuns=& =>otor angel=&
=!preading disease=& =7rophets for profit=& =7reaching in hardcore=& and so
on6 2he line =+od is dead= itself is the chorus of the song6
=Tour +od is dead& and no one cares= is the first part of the chorus in a
5ine <nch 5ails song& =Jeres=& from their 1OOI breakthrough concept
album The +o(n(ard Spiral6 2he album& as a whole& is replete with
5iet(schean concepts6 <t describes the character)s self.imposed descent
into nihilism in an attempt to destro his own religious values6 2he album
culminates in the character)s suicide due to the self.destructive nature of
his endeavor6
P
En the 1OOH album Amo% b the heav metal band !entenced& the song
=5ew Age >essiah= contains the line =god is dead& god is dead . long live
the 5ature=6 2he song chronicles the =descent= of mankind from the divine
and immaterial towards the earthen and real6
=<f this grand panorama before me is what ou call +od666 2hen +od is not
dead= from the 1OOO song =<n 2he !hadow of Eur 7ale -ompanion= b the
doom1folk metal band Agalloch6 2he song deals with the worship of nature
in contrast to the alienation and destruction that modern societ brings6
Apocalptic hardcore band *uried <nside writes =the edifice outlives the
architect6 god is dead6 bacon is dead6 darwin is dead6 and the landlords of
romance: smith is dead6 arkwright is dead6 talor is dead666= in their song
=7rogress is Dead , Death <s 7rogress6=
D<T hardcore band 2ake Down Tour Art uses the repeated line =+od <s
Dead= in their song =Reversal&= the second in a four.song ep entitled =Ro'
7opuli -apa' <nfiniti6= 2he record traces the inverse relationship between
the welfare of +od and that of mankind& and then repeats the theme
replacing +od with capitalism to draw a parallel6 =Reversal= features a
variet of 5iet(sche references and plas the part of =as +od suffers
humanit prospers= for the purposes of the record@s theme6
2he popular screamo band !enses Fail mentions the would like to die
=Aike god on the cover of time= in one of their songs6
=< want a +od who stas dead 666 not plas dead= is the first line of the
chorus to ,iet-sche b 2he Dand %arhols6
=+od is Dead= is also an instrumental song b >idtown on their BGGI
album Forget %hat Tou 4now
2he >anic !treet 7reachers@ BGGI song =1O;H= contains the chorus line
=!o +od is dead& like 5iet(sche said1!uperstition is all we have left=6 A
later refrain changes the line to refer to something a friend had likel said
to the lricist in 1O;H6
=+ott ist tot (+od is deadM)= is the title of a song b the darkwave +erman
band Das <ch6
=+ott ist totM= phrase used in the songs =%illst du JoffnungK= and =Der
neue +ott= b the +erman group EE>7JM6
=+od <sn@t DeadK= is the title of a song b "'treme& featured in the album
<<< !ides 2o "ver !tor6
>an songs b David *owie also pla reference to 5iet(sche@s
=!uperman=& such as =Vuicksand= in which *owie sings =4nowledge
comes with death@s release= and =$ust a mortal with potential of a
superman=6
=+od is Dead= can also be seen on the computer monitor of >orlock the
"lf in the independent short film =A >err -hristmassacre6=
=+od is Dead& we are the %inners= is a line in the song !in !ociet b the
+erman electro.industrial pro?ect -.Drone.Defect6
>aniac& the former vocalist of *lack >etal *and >ahem used the phrase
@+od is Dead@ each time the band plaed the song @Fall of !eraphs@ in
concerts6
;
Other ,ses
S.$iler %arning- Plot and/or ending details follow.
=+od is dead= is shouted b $ohn 7roctor in The )ruci.le6
2he actual& phsical death of +od is the sub?ect of $ames >orrow@s
+odhead 2rilog
<n Rosemary's Ba.y& written b <ra Aevin& Rosemar sees a cop of T/01
maga(ine with =<s +od DeadK= on the cover in the waiting room of her
obstetrician6 =+od is dead= is then shouted b her neighbors and the rest
of their group later in the movie6
7hillip 46 Dick mentions in passing in one of his short stories that the dead
bod of a giant cosmological being had been found floating in space awa
from the planet "arth6
A 2ids in the 3all comed sketch features a 1OHG@s.stle news report
declaring that +od is not onl dead& but his bod was found and he was of
remarkabl tin stature6
2he television drama The Second )oming ends with +od ding& in order
to scare humanit into actuall living their lives& and to remove eternal
punishment in hell6
4esus )hrist Supercop& a si'.episode parod1comed series& features both
5iet(sche and $esus (who is bitter towards the former for having killed his
father)6
<n 1OHG& the Aettrists (pre.!ituationism !ituationists) broke into 5otre
Dame -athedral during "aster Jigh >ass& kidnapped a priest and stole
his robes6 A member of the group took to the pulpit and announced to the
>ass (about IG&GGG people) =FrSres& Dieu est mort= (=*rothers& +od is
dead= in French)6 Je then began to elaborate on the religious and moral
implications before the crowd burst out into a riot6
5ear the clima' of 7hilip 7ullman@s 3is +ar% 0aterials trilog& %ill and Ara
unwittingl release the senile +od from his protective prison& allowing him
to finall die6
<n $oseph Jeller@s novel )atch5##& the character Dunbar fre3uentl
remarks& =+od is dead6=
Spoilers end here.
8,$tati$ns
=+od is dead: of his pit for man hath +od died6=
=2he +od who beheld everthing& A5D AA!E >A5: that +od had to dieM
>an cannot "5DWR" it that such a witness should live6=
=+od is dead6 Aet us not understand b this that he does not e'ist or even
that he no longer e'ists6 Je is dead6 Je spoke to us and is silent6 %e no
longer have anthing but his cadaver6 7erhaps he slipped out of the world&
O
somewhere else like the soul of a dead man6 7erhaps he was onl a
dream 666 +od is dead6= $ean.7aul !artre
5iet(sche: =+od is dead= +od: =5iet(sche is dead= (A popular ?oke& often
found graffitied on walls& particularl of universit towns6 A variant: =+od is
dead& 5iet(sche is dead and <@m not feeling too good mself6=)
&eferences
4aufmann& %alter6 ,iet-sche6 'hilosopher 'sychologist Antichrist6
7rinceton: 7rinceton Wniversit 7ress& 1OPI
Roberts& 2ler 26 )ontesting Spirit6 ,iet-sche Affirmation Religion
7rinceton Wniversit 7ress& 1OO;
N$tes
16 9 5iet(sche& The Gay Science& !ection 1BH
B6 9 trans6 %alter 4aufmann and R6$6 Jollingdale; T(ilight of the /dols&
"'peditions of an Wntimel >an& sect6 H
:6 9 trans6 Jollingdale; +ay.rea%& 7reface& sect6 1
(eath $f )$d The$l$gy
2homas $6 $6 Alti(er& The Gospel of )hristian Atheism (7hiladelphia:
%estminster& 1OQQ)6
2homas $6 $6 Alti(er and %illiam Jamilton& Radical Theology and the
+eath of God (<ndianapolis: *obbs.>errill& 1OQQ)6
*ernard >urchland& ed6& The 0eaning of the +eath of God (5ew Tork:
Random Jouse& 1OQP)6
+abriel Rahanian& The +eath of God (5ew Tork: +eorge *ra(iller& 1OQ1)6

1G