parable of the madman

E319553

The parable of the madman is a famous allegorical passage by Friedrich Nietzsche that dramatizes the proclamation of the "death of God" and its existential implications for modern society.

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parable of the madman canonical 1

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Predicate Object
instanceOf allegorical passage
literary work
philosophical parable
addressesAudience unbelievers in the marketplace
appearsInSection The Gay Science
surface form: Book III of The Gay Science
author Friedrich Nietzsche
centralTheme crisis of values
death of God
existential implications of secularization
meaning in a godless world
nihilism
containsImage falling continually into nothingness
unchaining the earth from its sun
wiping away the entire horizon
discusses human inability to grasp the magnitude of the death of God
inadequacy of existing moral frameworks after the death of God
firstPublishedIn The Gay Science
genre philosophical prose
historicalContext late 19th-century European secularization
includedIn Die fröhliche Wissenschaft
influenced 20th-century existentialist thought
modern theology debates on secularization
philosophy of religion
interpretation diagnosis of cultural nihilism rather than simple atheistic triumph
warning about unrecognized consequences of the decline of religion
keyConcept cultural consequences of atheism
human responsibility for creating values
loss of absolute foundations for morality
“God is dead”
language German
mainCharacter the madman
notableQuote “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”
originalTitleLanguage German
philosophicalQuestion how can meaning and value persist without God?
philosophicalTradition continental philosophy
existentialism
nihilism
publicationYear 1882
relatedConcept eternal recurrence
Übermensch
surface form: overman (Übermensch)

revaluation of all values
relatedWork Thus Spoke Zarathustra
setting marketplace
symbolizes collapse of traditional metaphysics
disorientation after the loss of God
spiritual crisis of modern Europe
workBy Friedrich Nietzsche
workType section of a philosophical book

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The Gay Science notablePassage parable of the madman