Original scientific paper

Karl Barth on Friedrich Nietzsche

Ivica Raguž orcid.org/0000-0002-0083-0325 ; Catholic Faculty of Theology, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Đakovo, Croatia

Abstract

The article analyzes the reception of Friedrich Nietzsche’s thought with the theologian Karl Barth. Barth brings his critique of Nietzsche in the second part of the third volume of his Church Dogmatics. His critique consists of two parts, and his main theses will also be presented in two parts in this article. The first part will analyze Barth’s insight of Nietzsche’s philosophy as »humanity without the fellow man«. According to Barth, Nietzsche was the representative of the »I am« humanity; he interpreted and understood everything as a projection of himself, and finally ended up in the »azure loneliness«. The second part presents Barth’s view of Nietzsche’s discovery of the Crucified. The Crucified God in Nietzsche’s thought is the opposite to what he himself is representing and, therefore, Nietzsche’s critique is directed primarily against Christianity as the religion of the Crucified. Furthermore, the discovery of the Crucified also shows that Nietzsche, as almost no one before him in contemporary philosophy, has recognized all the novelty and challenge of Christianity, its difficulty and its center precisely in the Crucified. The concluding thoughts bring the review of Barth’s interpretation of Nietzsche. The author evaluates the positive contribution and originality of Barth’s criticism, but criticizes its vagueness and the lack of a deeper, more serious dealing with Nietzsche.

Keywords

Karl Barth; Friedrich Nietzsche; Christianity; humanity; humanism; the Crucified; faith

Hrčak ID:

167539

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/167539

Publication date:

13.10.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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