In Nietzsche’s book ‘The Gay Science’ the character of ‘the madman’ declares that “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”, however this is not meant in the literal sense. It’s the idea that the Judaeo-christianic notion of ‘God’ is dead as it had become unbelievable. His nihilistic declaration illustrates how science, philosophy and politics had removed a need for the traditional ‘god’ figure that was once an explanation for the anomalies of our knowledge. Nietzsche values ‘God’ as a projection of our mundane physiological processes, representing a reverence for our dead ancestors or a desire to assuage our bad conscious. God is a historical phenomenon and a remnant of a redundant ‘slave morality’ and a repressed revenge fantasy of slaves. Nietzsche however did not see them fitting with the changing morals and society that were emerging towards the end of the nineteenth century.
‘God is dead’ (‘Gott ist tot’) is an intentionally provocative and nihilistic statement to express Nietzsche’s view that God is simply a projection of our own mundane psychological processes. This statement is first seen in The Gay Science, which was first published in 1882. The full paragraph, as found in the parable of ‘The Madman’ is as follows:
‘God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?’
We should not, of course, take the statement, ‘God is dead’ literally – it does not mean that Nietzsche ever believed in a God. Instead, it means that God is no longer a feasible foundation of wisdom; we should discard the idea of God and look for meanings and values deeper than those found in Christianity.
Nietzsche feels that we must cast of the idea of God and religion, for God is simply born out of our sense of unworthiness and fear. According to Nietzsche, God represents:
· A revenge fantasy of slaves – the desire of a repressed people
· A reverence for the dead- God is a symbolic representation of dead elders, and worshipping God is really just worshipping our ancestors
· A desire to assuage bad conscience – we are disappointed in our selves, we view ourself in terms of a narrative. There could be redemption, it could all mean something, but it would require an historical observer to make it all mean something
God is a historical phenomenon or remnant of a redundant ‘slave morality’ which we can, should, and would cast off – this he is ‘dead’. Although this has not yet happened, Nietzsche felt that this would happen in the future – and this is revealed in section 125 of The Gay Science:
‘This prodigious event is still on its way, still wandering; it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds, though done, still require time to be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the most distant stars—and yet they have done it themselves.’
It could be argued that Freud’s ideas regarding the idea of God are perhaps similar to those put forward by Nietzsche, albeit less controversial. Freud also claimed that God is a projection of our mundane internal psychological processes. These processes are unconscious (we are not aware of them), and as a result of this, God is simply fuelled by a neurotic anxiety.
