Talk:Friedrich Nietzsche

"Insane" is an antiquated and imprecise term; it's just not used anymore. And the origins of Nietzsche's mental breakdown probably had something to do with a brain tumor, or syphillis, or mental breakdown.

The "joke" from the magazine seems out-of-place for an entry so thin. Oh, and the time magazine cover is from April 8, 1966, not 1965.

--WOVcenter 18:09, 6 March 2007 (EST)

I think the last paragraph regarding the perception of the joke need not be eliminated. If it was reworded to be less-combative and opinionated, it would be an informative counter-point.--Dave3172 16:25, 10 March 2007 (EST)

I agree, especially if the person explained why this was a distortion of Nietzsche's philosophy rather than just taking a cheap shot at Christianity. MountainDew 16:27, 10 March 2007 (EST)

How is that a cheap shot at Christianity? This joke makes us look stupid and insecure; Nietzsche would have loved it. It takes up a huge portion of the page on the philosopher, which is clearly written by someone who has never read anything he wrote. Nietzsche's "god is dead" quote is not a major point of his philosophy, only a part of a larger point he was making, and to write an encyclopedia article focused on it is to reveal a serious and embarrassing ignorance of his work. I think the popularity of this simple play on words does reveal a great deal about his thought, pointing to the insecurity of Christians when faced with philosophical challenges. Read Nietzsche and write a serious repudiation appropriate for an encyclopedia, or remove that joke.

I think you can have the joke stay - after all, it is probably the most universally-known reference to him. But you can still write a criticism of that joke, and the thinking behind it, provided it's not combative and opinion instead of fact. I think the edits you made to the first paragraph were great; I'd love to see what you could write about the joke.--Dave3172 16:43, 10 March 2007 (EST)