Nietzsche and the idea of religion: Dionysus, Zarathustra, The Antichrist

• Grant number: 24/03484-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Scarlett Zerbetto Marton
• Grantee: Scarlett Zerbetto Marton
• Host Investigator: Binoche Bertrand
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Université De Paris, France

Abstract

Nietzsche and the idea of religion: Dionysus, Zarathustra, The AntichristThe general purpose of this research project is to elucidate Nietzsche's reflections on religion. By carefully analyzing the Nietzschean corpus, I aim to examine the philosopher's conceptions of religion, in order to show that he understands it as a physiological phenomenon and as a means of educating and cultivating human beings (I). By analyzing Nietzsche's diagnosis of Christianity, I want to investigate the reasons that lead him to see the Christian religion as the negation of the will to live (II). Taking Thus Spoke Zarathustra as my starting point, I then intend to assess the extent to which Nietzsche's most beloved book constitutes, as he himself claims, the "fifth gospel" (III). Finally, my aim is to evaluate the conceptions of religion that the philosopher works with when he criticizes Christianity and at the same time proposes a Dionysian religion (IV). My interpretative hypothesis is that, at the same time Nietzsche denounces the physiological impoverishment that underlies religions, he introduces another conception of religion, by insisting on presenting himself as a disciple of Dionysus. Understanding metaphysics and religion as an attempt to duplicate worlds, he does not hesitate to criticize them for their transcendent character. But as he insists on the Dionysian character of his own philosophy, he introduces another conception of religion that deserves to be investigated. I set out to explore the conceptions of religion that govern his positions.