Nietzsche - The Death of God and the Übermensch

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) is probably the most misunderstood philosopher in history. He didn't want you to be a Nazi (his sister distorted his work), and he didn't want you to be a depressed goth kid. He wanted you to be dangerous.

Nietzsche famously wrote, "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him."

He wasn't celebrating. He was terrified. He realized that Western civilization built its entire moral code (Good/Evil, Truth, Purpose) on Christianity. Science and the Enlightenment had killed the belief in God.

The Problem: If you remove the foundation (God), the whole house (Meaning/Morality) collapses. This leads to Nihilism: the belief that nothing matters.

Nietzsche didn't want us to stay in Nihilism. He wanted us to overcome it. Since the universe has no inherent meaning, we are free (and obligated) to create our own meaning.

• The Übermensch (Overman): The individual who overcomes the need for external validation (religion, nationalism) and creates their own life-affirming values.
• Amor Fati (Love of Fate): The ultimate test. Could you live your life over and over again, identically, for eternity? If you can say "Yes!" to every pain and joy, you have mastered life.

Nietzsche argued that Christianity inverted natural morality.

• Master Morality: Values strength, pride, creativity, and power (like the ancient Greeks/Romans).
• Slave Morality: Values meekness, humility, and weakness (turning the other cheek). It is born out of Ressentiment (resentment) of the weak against the strong.

He wasn't saying "be evil." He was saying "be authentic and strong," rather than "be weak and call it 'good'."

Nietzsche predicted the 20th century would be full of chaos as ideologies (Communism, Facism) tried to replace God. He forces us to ask: If there is no cosmic rulebook, what values will you choose to live by?

1. The Book:

• "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" by Friedrich Nietzsche.
• It's written like a religious text (intentionally). It's poetic, dense, and wild.

Next time, we wrap up with the 20th century response to all this: Existentialism.