Amirabbas Soulikhani; Qodratullah Qorbani
Volume 10, Issue 2 , March 2022, , Pages 21-42
Abstract
Questions like: "Is There a God?" and "Does God give meaning to life?" are two of the most vivid philosophical questions and Nietzsche reflected on both of them. Nietzsche denies the objective existence of God on the basis of a version of the divine hiddenness argument. He maintains that if one accepts ...
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Questions like: "Is There a God?" and "Does God give meaning to life?" are two of the most vivid philosophical questions and Nietzsche reflected on both of them. Nietzsche denies the objective existence of God on the basis of a version of the divine hiddenness argument. He maintains that if one accepts the theistic conception of God then he won’t be able to explain the silence of God throughout the history. He then thinks about the dying role of believing in God in giving meaning to human life. By using allegorical characters such as the madman with lantern, the old saint, the retired pope and the ugliest human being, Nietzsche tries to show how the death of God will result in spiritual crisis. The doctrine of Übermensch fills the emptiness that emerges after the death of God but Nietzsche’s argument against the existence of God is not successful and cannot establish an atheistic ontology. In addition to that, despite of some examples in different religions, there isn’t any necessary relation between believing in God with the Resentment and the denial of life. Finally, it will be shown that the doctrine of Übermensch is such an unachievable goal that will lead to human's psychological dissatisfaction.
