The 1859 publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species had dramatic consequences, including creating doubts about the place of God in a world where species evolve independently and change continuously. Darwin had not simply questioned God; had shaken one of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity: that God had created a flawless and immutable earth. When Darwin's ideas were not scientifically disproved, the very foundations of Christianity were called into question. That questioning continued as scientific discovery advanced. The traditional view and role of God have become less and less applicable to modern life, triggering the onset of nihilism in many as the foundations of their lives are being undermined by scientific progress. Scholars and philosophers in the Western world have approached this problem in two ways: either by trying to reinsert God into people's daily lives, or by thinking of ways to overcome nihilism and move forward without Him. This new era of modernism was the backdrop to much part of Nietzsche's work and had an undeniable impact on later writings such as Thus Spoke Zarathustra. The parable "The Three Metamorphoses" in that work is an outline of Nietzsche's ideas on redemption in his contemporary period of Godless modernism. Although the title refers to three metamorphoses of the soul, one has already occurred at the beginning of the fable . The soul begins as a camel; he lives in “reverence” and “wants to be well loaded” (Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra). The camel achieves these states of reverence and weight by fully accepting the Christian-Platonic value system and acetic ideals, which devalue man's earthly existence. The reverence with which he holds this paradigm gives rise to his burden: his life is a “desert… because [according to… middle of the paper… this exercise would help them identify the values they wish to live by, and then allow them to apply those values to their past through revaluation, and to their future through the will to power. In a new age of modernistic godlessness, Nietzsche's parable offers one of many methods for achieving secular redemption once the religious idea of redemption loses its validity. Works Cited Cybulska, Eva. "Nietzsche's Ubermensch: a hero of our time?" Philosophy Now (2012): 10-12. Gooding-Williams, Robert. Zarathustra's Dionysian modernism. Ed. Judith Butler and Frederick M. Dolan. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. Nietzsche, Friedrich. On the genealogy of morality. New York: Random House, 1967.—. Thus spoke Zarathustra. Trans. Thomas Common. 2008.Register, Bernard. The affirmation of life: Nietzsche on overcoming nihilism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006.
tags