{"id":{"repo_id":"kings","oai_identifier":"oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/kings/oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9","repository":{"repo_id":"kings","name":"King's College London","base_url":"https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/oai"},"display":{"title":"Nietzsche’s affirmative attitude towards ‘the life-affirming type of gods’: an investigation into the positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion","abstract":"This thesis investigates certain key positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion, while respecting the way his philosophy as a whole changed throughout the course of his life. In the end, the aim is to produce a just portrait of Nietzsche, a philosopher who, contrary to the popular image of his being anti-religious, recognised keenly the positive effects a certain type of gods can have on human beings. I begin the thesis by suggesting that, after his abandonment of his early ‘religious communitarianism’, Nietzsche became a ‘religious’ aristocratic individualist who set the nurturing of ‘higher types’ as his highest goal and attempted to find the way to achieve it in a certain type of gods, what I call ‘the life-affirming type of gods’. Then, after discussing some interpretative issues concerning his writings in general, I examine his early positive religious thinking. Next, I discuss Nietzsche’s concern for the nurturing of ‘higher types’. I suggest that his conception of ‘higher types’ is an ultimate representation of his idea of ‘human greatness’ capable of creating cultural greatness and new ‘life-affirming’ values, all of which is connected with his concern for ‘suffering’. Further, to clarify the nature of ‘higher types’ in greater depth, I examine other related conceptions of his, namely ‘nobility’ and ‘life-affirmation’. In the final part of the thesis, as I illustrate how Nietzsche’s mature positive religious thinking focuses on ‘the life-affirming type of gods’, I examine his idea of the nature and effects of these gods, with reference to his criticism of the Christian conception of God. Finally, I present and argue for my view of how he intends the life-affirming type of gods to contribute towards the nurturing of ‘higher types’.","abstract_html":"This thesis investigates certain key positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion, while respecting the way his philosophy as a whole changed throughout the course of his life. In the end, the aim is to produce a just portrait of Nietzsche, a philosopher who, contrary to the popular image of his being anti-religious, recognised keenly the positive effects a certain type of gods can have on human beings. I begin the thesis by suggesting that, after his abandonment of his early ‘religious communitarianism’, Nietzsche became a ‘religious’ aristocratic individualist who set the nurturing of ‘higher types’ as his highest goal and attempted to find the way to achieve it in a certain type of gods, what I call ‘the life-affirming type of gods’. Then, after discussing some interpretative issues concerning his writings in general, I examine his early positive religious thinking. Next, I discuss Nietzsche’s concern for the nurturing of ‘higher types’. I suggest that his conception of ‘higher types’ is an ultimate representation of his idea of ‘human greatness’ capable of creating cultural greatness and new ‘life-affirming’ values, all of which is connected with his concern for ‘suffering’. Further, to clarify the nature of ‘higher types’ in greater depth, I examine other related conceptions of his, namely ‘nobility’ and ‘life-affirmation’. In the final part of the thesis, as I illustrate how Nietzsche’s mature positive religious thinking focuses on ‘the life-affirming type of gods’, I examine his idea of the nature and effects of these gods, with reference to his criticism of the Christian conception of God. Finally, I present and argue for my view of how he intends the life-affirming type of gods to contribute towards the nurturing of ‘higher types’.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hirai, Ryoichi"],"institution":"King's College London","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Hamilton, Christopher Francis","Janz, Paul Dwight"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-1-1","date_published":"2014-1-1","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:44:37Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9"],"render_values":[{"text":"oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Hamilton, Christopher Francis","Janz, Paul Dwight"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hirai, Ryoichi"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2014-1-1"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-1-1"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Theology & Religious Studies"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["King's College London"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9","https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/12640290/Studentthesis-Ryoichi_Hirai_2014.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis investigates certain key positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion, while respecting the way his philosophy as a whole changed throughout the course of his life. In the end, the aim is to produce a just portrait of Nietzsche, a philosopher who, contrary to the popular image of his being anti-religious, recognised keenly the positive effects a certain type of gods can have on human beings. I begin the thesis by suggesting that, after his abandonment of his early ‘religious communitarianism’, Nietzsche became a ‘religious’ aristocratic individualist who set the nurturing of ‘higher types’ as his highest goal and attempted to find the way to achieve it in a certain type of gods, what I call ‘the life-affirming type of gods’. Then, after discussing some interpretative issues concerning his writings in general, I examine his early positive religious thinking. Next, I discuss Nietzsche’s concern for the nurturing of ‘higher types’. I suggest that his conception of ‘higher types’ is an ultimate representation of his idea of ‘human greatness’ capable of creating cultural greatness and new ‘life-affirming’ values, all of which is connected with his concern for ‘suffering’. Further, to clarify the nature of ‘higher types’ in greater depth, I examine other related conceptions of his, namely ‘nobility’ and ‘life-affirmation’. In the final part of the thesis, as I illustrate how Nietzsche’s mature positive religious thinking focuses on ‘the life-affirming type of gods’, I examine his idea of the nature and effects of these gods, with reference to his criticism of the Christian conception of God. Finally, I present and argue for my view of how he intends the life-affirming type of gods to contribute towards the nurturing of ‘higher types’."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nietzsche’s affirmative attitude towards ‘the life-affirming type of gods’: an investigation into the positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Hamilton, Christopher Francis","Janz, Paul Dwight"],"dc:creator":["Hirai, Ryoichi"],"dc:date":["2014-1-1"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-1-1"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis investigates certain key positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion, while respecting the way his philosophy as a whole changed throughout the course of his life. In the end, the aim is to produce a just portrait of Nietzsche, a philosopher who, contrary to the popular image of his being anti-religious, recognised keenly the positive effects a certain type of gods can have on human beings. I begin the thesis by suggesting that, after his abandonment of his early ‘religious communitarianism’, Nietzsche became a ‘religious’ aristocratic individualist who set the nurturing of ‘higher types’ as his highest goal and attempted to find the way to achieve it in a certain type of gods, what I call ‘the life-affirming type of gods’. Then, after discussing some interpretative issues concerning his writings in general, I examine his early positive religious thinking. Next, I discuss Nietzsche’s concern for the nurturing of ‘higher types’. I suggest that his conception of ‘higher types’ is an ultimate representation of his idea of ‘human greatness’ capable of creating cultural greatness and new ‘life-affirming’ values, all of which is connected with his concern for ‘suffering’. Further, to clarify the nature of ‘higher types’ in greater depth, I examine other related conceptions of his, namely ‘nobility’ and ‘life-affirmation’. In the final part of the thesis, as I illustrate how Nietzsche’s mature positive religious thinking focuses on ‘the life-affirming type of gods’, I examine his idea of the nature and effects of these gods, with reference to his criticism of the Christian conception of God. Finally, I present and argue for my view of how he intends the life-affirming type of gods to contribute towards the nurturing of ‘higher types’."],"dc:identifier":["oai:kclpure.kcl.ac.uk:studenttheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9","https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/12640290/Studentthesis-Ryoichi_Hirai_2014.pdf"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Theology & Religious Studies"],"dc:publisher.institution":["King's College London"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/studentTheses/91552ff5-1447-462f-9c02-938a64195be9"],"dc:title":["Nietzsche’s affirmative attitude towards ‘the life-affirming type of gods’: an investigation into the positive aspects of Nietzsche’s philosophy of religion"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Doctoral Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:44:37Z"}