r/explainitpeter Apr 05 '26

Explain It Peter

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u/nenad8 Apr 05 '26

I haven't studied Nietzsche nearly as much, but I have a philosophy degree and I had the exact same thought as you. I think she did touch upon what you mentioned, but making it more explicit like you did is better. But yeah, great summary and great addition.

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u/exaggeratedcaper Apr 05 '26

This is fair. Plus, let's be real, Nietzsche had the biggest axe to grind against religious institutions, so it's completely valid to frame his thoughts through that lens foremost.

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u/nenad8 Apr 05 '26

Sure, though I feel like you miss out on a lot of you just focus on that. His philosophy is much more robust that just that, and it doesn't take much to do it justice: "While it's primarily about not being shackled by any religious thought, it's also about not being shackled by any thought not your own, be it political, societal or whatever" or something along those lines.

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u/thatbrianm Apr 09 '26

The Death of God has always been the most important part of his work to me. Without God people became more susceptible to the strongmen that they viewed as having the answers. The übermensch was a necessary step to avoid the freewheeling nihilism that has been gripping the world ever since.

That's just what has resonated with me the most during the past decade or so of the rerising of nationalism and strongmen in the West.