Essay on Enlightenment and the Death of God - 3443 Words

Enlightenment and the Death of God Intellectual thought since Nietzsche has found itself one way or another addressing the death of God. Most of this thinking, however, has taken place from an atheistic starting point and has not considered its own presuppositions. It strives to find consistent outworking from these presuppositions and to eradicate the shadow of God carried over from the Enlightenment tradition because of its grounding in a theistic worldview. However, the outcome and implications of thinking after the death of God has been found hideous and many attempts have been made to transcend the absurdity there. THE DEATH OF GOD Nietzsche proclaimed in The Gay Science, God is dead: but given the way men are, there†¦show more content†¦The second type of atheism is much more rare. It is based on a moral denial of God, and usually carries a much deeper understanding of the implications of his absence. It is stated best by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov, through the character Ivan Karamazov who takes issue with God over the suffering of innocent children and declares that since he cannot understand or forgive injustice he will reject God, preferring to stand with the wicked rather than accept the suffering as part of his Lords perfect plan. Camus seems to advocate this form of atheism too in the section on metaphysical rebellion in The Rebel and also in The Plague, where the protagonist, Dr. Rieux, concludes, since the order of the world is shaped by death, mightnt it be better for God if we refuse to believe in Him and struggle with all our might against death, without raising our eyes towar d the heaven where He sits in silence (117-118). This form of rebellion, the denial of God even if He does exist, is much more logical and coherent than the atheistic assumptions of science, but both rest on Enlightenment presuppositions. THE PRESUPPOSITIONAL NATURE OF MODERN ATHEISM It is easy to see that scientific atheism is assumed as a presupposition rather than established as some sort of conclusion. The empiricism that Enlightenment science stressed so much is incapable of proving or disproving the metaphysical existence of God, but it has displaced Him asShow MoreRelatedThe Question of Origin According to Hinduism871 Words   |  4 Pagesinto two aspects one male and one female† (Shattuck). The man is identified as Shiva and women as Shakti. The ultimate goal of human identity is obtaining enlightenment of â€Å"the individual self to lose its separate identity in the universal Self† (Shattuck). The Question of Meaning/Purpose – Hinduism is faced with a revolving wheel of life, death and rebirth called Samsara better known as reincarnation. They believe this life cycle is a direct relation to a person’s karma of deeds done. 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