How Does Nietzsche Influence Western Philosophy

Nietzsche was a German philosopher who had a substantial influence on Western philosophy. Through his writings, he has a wide span of radical ideas. Nietzsche believes that language is all metaphorical, and that it is “dying.” Also, he professes that “God is dead,” and has a basis of thought which helps revolutionize the 19th and 20th centuries completely for the Western people and civilization today.
Nietzsche professes in “The Gay Science” and also “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” that “God is dead.” “God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! How can we console ourselves, the murderers of all murderers!” (The Gay Science, sec. 125) What does Nietzsche mean by this? When Nietzsche refers to God is dead,” he is referring to the decrease in religion (Christianity). God did not actually die, but the actual idea of him did. The belief of a macrocosm that was led by physical law, and not divine providence, was now an actuality. Europe was no longer dependent on the idealism of God for any principles; philosophy and science were proficient in doing so. Nietzsche also concluded that not only has “God died,” but we sacrificed him with our own yearning to better understand our universe.
Nietzsche argues that “concepts are metaphors which do not correspond to reality…” These metaphors are developed to ultimately ease the means of communication. He believed that metaphors were not literally true, but if we believe that all metaphors are false, we cannot depict Nietzsche’s theory that al language is metaphorical. If someone says, “cutting through an argument with a rusty razor blade,” you cannot interpret this metaphor as a statement, since it is