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'''Friedrich Nietzsche''' (1844-1900) was a [[Germany|German]] [[atheism|atheist]] philosopher whose work set a foundation the [[existentialism|existentialist]] movement of the 1900's.<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ Stanford's Biography on Nietzsche]</ref> Nietzsche was critical of religion in general, though especially Christianity, which he described as the "religion of pity."<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche/ Nietzsche Quotations]</ref> Nietzsche is famous for his statement that “God is dead.”  Nietzsche instead urged a new kind of ethical development that would go beyond "Good" and "Evil" as such,  leading to a new category of being, the "overman." Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse in 1889, and spent the last ten years of his life unable to care for himself. During this time, his sister Elizabeth Förster-Nietzsche took over his affairs, and worked to falsify and re-edit his writings in order to support her virulent Anti-Semitism (a view which Nietzsche consistently abhorred, and often mocked, during his lifetime).  It was her distorted version of culled and mis-quoted statements which later provided an intellectual fig-leaf for the Nazi regime.  

'''Friedrich Nietzsche''' (1844-1900) was a [[Germany|German]] [[atheism|atheist]] philosopher whose work set a foundation the [[existentialism|existentialist]] movement of the 1900's.<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ Stanford's Biography on Nietzsche]</ref> Nietzsche was critical of religion in general, though especially Christianity, which he described as the "religion of pity."<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche/ Nietzsche Quotations]</ref> Nietzsche is famous for his statement that “God is dead.”  Nietzsche instead urged a new kind of ethical development that would go beyond "Good" and "Evil." Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse in 1889, and spent the last ten years of his life unable to care for himself. During this time, his sister Elizabeth Förster-Nietzsche took over his affairs, and worked to falsify and re-edit his writings in order to support her virulent Anti-Semitism (a view which Nietzsche consistently abhorred, and often mocked, during his lifetime).  It was her distorted version of culled and mis-quoted statements which later provided an intellectual fig-leaf for the Nazi regime.

 

 

The statement "God is dead" is often taken out of context. Originally, it appeared in Nietzsche's "The Gay Science." The story was of a mad man entering a church in day light, a lantern held aloft in his hand, telling everyone that he was looking for God. They laughed at him asking if God was lost. He told them that he was looking because "God is Dead" and every church his tomb. The man was upset, going on about how the death of God meant the lose of all meaning, as though some one had wiped away the horizon and taken the back drop away from existence.

Nietzsche's father Carl Ludwig Nietzsche, was a [[Lutheran]] pastor.

Nietzsche's father Carl Ludwig Nietzsche, was a [[Lutheran]] pastor.

*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=816224 "The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychology"]

*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=816224 "The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychology"]

* [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html#_ftnref1 ''Deus Caritas Est'', from the Vatican website]

* [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html#_ftnref1 ''Deus Caritas Est'', from the Vatican website]