Nietzsche And Platonism Essay examples - 916 Words

In Twilight of the Idols Nietzsche writes, quot;My objection against the whole of sociology in England and France remains that it knows from experience only the forms of decay, and with perfect innocence accepts its instincts of decay as the norm of sociological value-judgments. The decline of life, the decrease in the power to organize, that is to tear open clefts, subordinate and super-ordinate -- all this has been formulated as the ideal in contemporary sociology.quot; (p 541). The culture of Europe at the time of Nietzsche’s writing was experiencing a general decline in vitality which was exemplified in Christianity (Platonism) and anarchy or nihilism. Nietzsche saw himself as a kind of philosophical doctor, capable of diagnosing†¦show more content†¦The Christian, Nietzsche claims, is similar to the nihilist. He denies the natural rank order of the world in favor of an unrealistic vision of the equality of all souls. This rejection of super- and subordination is a symptom of resentment against reality. It is the dissatisfied cry of the weak who, instead of acting in accord with their own temperaments, revolt against nature and commit a kind of arrogance against the world. These advocates of communal life thought that humans would enjoy expanded freedom and happiness with the abolition of property, leadership, unequal social status and privilege. But, Nietzsche points out, the complaints and desires of the Christian nihilist are the complaints and desires of those who want revenge on a world that has denied them what they are too weak to seize. quot;...there is a fine dose of revenge in every complaint.quot; (p. 534). The nihilist tries to find someone at fault for the suffering that he undergoes, and in this fault-finding is exhibited the weakness of one who cannot simply move forward with his own life. The only difference between the Christian and the nihilist is that the Christian finds fault in himself while the nihilist finds fault in o thers. A world full of Christians is a world in decline. Desiring release from suffering in the here and now, Christians imagine the existence of illusory, utopian worlds beyond this one: the Christian Heaven, or a Platonic â€Å"realm ofShow MoreRelatedNietzsche and Platonism935 Words   |  4 PagesIn Twilight of the Idols Nietzsche writes, My objection against the whole of sociology in England and France remains that it knows from experience only the forms of decay, and with perfect innocence accepts its instincts of decay as the norm of sociological value-judgments. The decline of life, the decrease in the power to organize, that is to tear open clefts, subordinate and super-ordinate -- all this has been formulated as the ideal in contemporary sociology. (p 541). The culture of EuropeRead MoreNietzsches critique of Plato and Christianity2437 Words   |  10 Pagesourselves, the murderers of all murderers?† (Nietzsche, 1882, 1887, s. 125).This is one of many renowned and influ ential quotes devised by the prolific German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. A lover of Greek myths and a philologist by trade, Nietzsche expounded his controversial philosophy with an iron fist criticizing Platonism, Christianity and other popular forms of thought as anesthetising and suppressing the instinctual, impulsive energies of man. Nietzsche was the original non-conformist and trueRead MoreThe Art of Rhetoric767 Words   |  4 Pageslanguage that holds the power to (re)define happiness alongside socially constructed state and self-interested agendas. The most radical voice in this spectrum is Nietzsche who inverts historiography in his claim that â€Å"Every advance in epistemology and moral knowledge has reinstated the Sophists (Will to Power). I’ve chosen Nietzsche as a â€Å"third sophistic† figure (alongside Gorgias) particularly because he counters the rhetoric of Christianity’s beating insistence that â€Å"the meek shall inherit theRead MoreShakespeares King Lear vs. Tuesdays with Morrie1495 Words   |  6 Pagesto modernism, but its roots can be traced to ancient philosophical traditions ranging from Zoroastrianism and Judaism, Buddhism and Platonism (Flynn). The essence of existentialism is authenticity of experience, asking the philosopher to undergo deep introspection. However, existentialism is perhaps most famous for its probing questions about what Friedrich Nietzsche called the tension of the soul, (2). Known colloquially as existential angst, the tension of the soul, search for meaning and purposeRead MorePhilosophy C100 Quiz 121572 Words   |  7 Pagesphenomena |    | noumena |    | das Ding-an-sich |   X | All of the above. | 16.   The early 19th century philosophical position which maintained that being is the transcendental unfolding or expression of thought or reason was known as    | Neo-Platonism |    | Kantianism |   X | Absolute Idealism |    | Darwinism | 17.   Whose philosophy could be described as vision of the history of the universe and human consciousness as a necessary unfolding of infinite reason.    | Marx | X | Hegel | Read MorePlato s Theory Of The Forms1704 Words   |  7 Pageshis student, Aristotle, laying the groundwork for Western philosophy and science through their collective work. Plato has also been considered one of the founders of western religion, especially Christianity, which Friedrich Nietzsche called â€Å"Platonism for the people† (Nietzsche, 2013). A lot of Plato’s philosophy focused on Christian ideals and aspects that are still used today in the Christian churches around the world. Plato was very involved in Athenian politics during his time and this was reflectedRead MoreThe Romantic Imagination in Action3457 Words   |  14 Pagesgenius, the world is made through the imagination. When Nietzsche in the 19th century made the statement that there were no real facts, only interpretations, it was clear that he was summing up the legacy of the 18th century and paving the way for the promise of 20th century psychology. The concept of Will to Power is a concept of Nietzsches thought, which has lead to many interpretations. In his theory of Will to Power, Nietzsche proposes that all living things are motivated by the need toRead MoreCallicles2039 Words   |  9 Pageslogical process of dialectic. He acknowledges that Callicles will probably dismiss this account as an old wives tale however he believes that this picture of the world or something like it is worth the risk of believing. Perhaps it is this form of Platonism that Leask refers to when he says it ‘is a spiritually-directed, â€Å"religious† philosophy which, although never anti-rational, realizes that its source and its â€Å"goal† is qua spiritual, beyond the grasp of correlational, discursive thought’.12 I haveRead MoreGod Is Dead2469 Words   |  10 Pagesreligion, but to practice it openly without fear of legal retaliation or of retaliation of any kind. The God-Is-Dead Theology is not a new belief but has existed since the late nineteenth century with its roots founded in statements made by Friedrich Nietzsche who lived from 1844 and died in 1900. The sole purpose of this paper is to show the historical workings of those â€Å"theologians† who created the God-Is-Dead theology, how it got its possible rise stemming from the events of the French Revolution, andRead MoreChristian Ethics in a Postmodern World Essay example6531 Words   |  27 Pagesworldview (secularism) is believed to be the universal truth. Fredrich Nietzsche critiques that all claims of truth, reason and science are tools for the preservation of life by the will to power which seeks to control and to dominate (1968: 227). Karl Marx warns us the possibility of â€Å"false consciousness† (False belief in social reality structures that betray the believers) (Mannheim 1936: 78). Karl Mannheim learns from Nietzsche and borrows from Karl Marx the concept of false consciousness and