In some ways, Paul Tillich's book The Courage to Be responds to Friedrich Nietzsche's idea of "the death of God." To understand Nietzsche's Madman's announcement, one must first understand Nietzsche's idea of God. Within the subject-object structure of reality, God as a subject makes people into objects. This objectivity of humans deprives us of our subjectivity because He is all-powerful and all-knowing. We revolt and try to make Him into an object, but the revolt fails and we become desperate. In our desperation we see God as the invincible tyrant, for He is with freedom, power and knowledge, and we are without. "This is the God Nietzsche said had to be killed because nobody can tolerate being made into a mere object of absolute knowledge and absolute control." (Tillich 185).
In Nietzsche, we find a predominance of the threat of meaninglessness. As a result of this threat, we see what Tillich describes as the courage to be as oneself. Only with the death of Nietzsche's God can one truly have the courage to be as oneself, because the death of that god represents the death of the whole system of values and meanings in which one lived (Tillich 143). Consequently, one must look within oneself, in this time of meaningless, to develop a new self-affirmation under new ideas of meaningfulness. According to Nietzsche, this is the act of humans becoming gods.
The courage to be as oneself will not give the final solution, however (Tillich 141). The courage to be is rooted in the God above God. Nietzsche's death of God is the death of a particular idea of God, not the God above God. But his "death of god" may convince others that God above God is dead, or that He is only a background figure. This is unfortunate, because only after realizing a God above God can one truly experience the courage to be.
Courage Courage, something many people too often seem to attribute to themselves. ... Often times people with real courage go unnoticed. ... Courage what takes courage? Some people say giving your life for some one takes courage or a person who has been labeled as hero, they must have had courage . ... Yes, those people all have courage. ...
Although these examples certainly exemplify heroic courage; there are many different types of courage that people display everyday. Courage is not only reserved for heroes. "Everyday Courage" There is a saying that describes courage as "nothing more than taking one step more than you think you can." ... Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen"... Everyday Courage is saying "One more step. ...
To me courage is something we all have inside of ourselves. ... I agree because true courage is part of our personality. ... To me this is the greatest courage of all. ... To recapitulate courage is an important quality to obtain. ... Everyone has an underlying layer of courage. ...
I have composed this letter concerning rather or not the poem "Courage" by Anne Sexton should be in the grade level curriculum. ... To really understand it you have to think what is important about how it is showing courage. ... In those line it is show that having compassion is also a sign of courage. "Courage" also fits in the California Standards under "understanding grade level reading material." ... So in many ways this poem courage can relate to life in general and it is show that what you do in life takes some kind of courage. ...
Courage: What does this word really mean? ... But is that all courage really is? ... Courage. ... These people in September 11th have definitely showed a lot of courage. ... Not many people have this kind of courage. ...
People each have their own definition of courage. Authors will portray their idea of courage through their writing. ... In the Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane believes that courage is facing your fears and acknowledging your faults to yourself. ... I feel that this was a perfect example of what courage is. ... The rest of the crew showed their courage by whaling in the first place. ...
Courage is a feeling that can only come from within. ... These people had to dig deep within themselves in order to find the courage to live. For some people, courage is needed for more simple things that are taken for granted. ... No matter what the fear may be, if courage can be found, any fear can be faced. ...
Courage is not those heroic acts we see watching superman nor is it those muscle bound men with super strength. ... It takes a tremendous amount of courage and strength to remain living in our cruel world today. ... We found strength and courage in each other to get through that terrifying experience. ... Children posses the most courage and strength among us all, they speak with total honesty and that indeed is truly courageous. ... True courage and strength is hidden within and like a fragile blossom only to bloom in the hour of need. ...
Courage, The Strength Within Definition= my definition of courage is a person that has the strengths needed to face their fears We all face difficulties in our lives like loosing some one you love, getting something stolen or having the school bully on your bad side. ... Later on the next year we had to play the same team with that same huge guy that hit me and I had the courage to play even though I was scared. ... That character shows courage when no one else wanted to. ... He didn't want to but he faced his fears and showed a lot of courage to take such a challenge. ... ...