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Religious and cultural identity
Religious identity theory
Religious identity theory
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With his theory Friedrich Nietzsche gave a sorrowful, mediocre, and secular world new meaning. The following essay will discuss the problems in society during the 1800’s and prove Nietzsche’s greatness in giving new meaning to the world. The essay then proves that it was by Elizabeth Forster-Nietzsche’s deliberate tampering that Nietzsche’s Superman came to be a symbol of Nazi principles.
Friedrich Nietzsche opposed common values, which he believed distracted man from life. During Nietzsche’s period, imperialist nationalism or an increasingly questionable religion provided the only meaning to life. Nietzsche opposed both. He thought the idea of nationalism ridiculous, saying “only there, where the state ceases, does the man who is not superfluous begin….” Nietzsche held “disdain for the average mind, arguing that all ignorance, but especially Christian ignorance, does not result from deprivation as much as mankind's wilful aversion to genuine knowledge.” The religious values which prevented man from living life disgusted Nietzsche: ‘Christianity was from the beginning, essentially and fundamentally, life's nausea and disgust with life, merely concealed behind… faith in "another" or "better" life.’ He stated that the Church “has turned every value into worthlessness, and every truth into a lie, and every integrity into baseness of soul." Nietzsche thought the values of nationalism and Christianity defiled everything that could potentially be strong and beautiful, and wanted to free the European culture from its tantalizing grip. Nietzsche further expressed his thoughts towards religion in his novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra:
God…was human work and human madness…. It was suffering and impotence- that created all after worlds...
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.... The aim should be to prepare a transvaluation for a particularly strong kind of man, most highly gifted in intellect and will. This man and the elite around him will become the ‘lords of the earth’.
This belief is shown throughout Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” by his consistent usage of Nietzsche’s phrase ‘lords of the earth’.
Friedrich Nietzsche tore apart the nihilistic mindset of Europe and gave it a new purpose. He combated the degradation of Europe’s moral foundation with his own theories, the Superman. The Superman is one who has overcome himself and follows no other values but those of his mind. He leads man, allowing a model for continual improvement of humanity until it can finally break free from its chains within eternal recurrence. However, Elizabeth twisted his work to influence the great evils of Nazism due to her financial needs and personal bias.
Friedrich Nietzsche was a brilliant and outspoken man who uses ideas of what he believe in what life is about. He did not believe in what is right and wrong because if who opposed the power. Nietzsche was against Democracy because how they depend on other people to make some different or change, while Nietzsche believe they should of just pick the ones that were gifted and talent to choose what to change. Nietzsche also does not believe in Aristocracy because how they depend on an individual person to create the rules or change those benefits for him. As you see Nietzsche did not like how they depend on one person to decide instead of each person to decide for himself for their own benefits.
However, Nietzsche’s idea of the powerful forcing their will on common people resonates with me. It is something we see in our modern society, wealthy people seem to have a higher influence over the average American. Examples of powerful people controlling others are found in politics, economy, media, and religion. Common people are lead to think in certain ways that the powerful need them to. Nietzsche said that people will only be equal as long as they are equal in force and talent, people who have a higher social group are more influential in decisions because average people look to them for information. The thing I do not agree with Nietzsche on his view as Christianity as a weakness because religion is a main cause of people’s decision
Adolf Hitler’s political goals and social philosophies can be seen vividly through a brief excerpt of his autobiography/exposition entitled “Mein Kampf” or “My Struggles.” Hitler’s thoughts seemed to arise from a mind that blamed the German
Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals can be assessed in regards to the three essays that it is broken up into. Each essay derives the significance of our moral concepts by observing
While investigating the details of this peculiar relationship, I was struck by the historical and philosophical depth of several discoveries, the fundamental question being this: Why was Nietzsche's perception of both Wagner's music and his character upset simply because Wagner declared his return to God? I envisioned that this question would provide a rather simple essay, one aimed at declaring the cause of the quarrel as a basic Christian vs. Atheist dispute among oversensitive philosophical minds - but this paper has turned out to be a wealth of thought, knowledge, and chance that I can't possibly express in five to eight pages.
We have grown weary of man. Nietzsche wants something better, to believe in human ability once again. Nietzsche’s weariness is based almost entirely in the culmination of ressentiment, the dissolution of Nietzsche’s concept of morality and the prevailing priestly morality. Nietzsche wants to move beyond simple concepts of good and evil, abandon the assessment of individuals through ressentiment, and restore men to their former wonderful ability.
Friedrich Nietzsche is recognized for being one of the most influential German philosophers of the modern era. He is known for his works on genealogy of morality, which is a way to study values and concepts. In Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche mentions that values and concepts have a history because of the many different meanings that come with it. Nietzsche focused on traditional ethical theories, especially those rooted in religion. Not being a religious man, he believed that human life has no moral purpose except for the significance that human beings give it.
To this day it remains incomprehensible to justify a sensible account for the uprising of the Nazi Movement. It goes without saying that the unexpectedness of a mass genocide carried out for that long must have advanced through brilliant tactics implemented by a strategic leader, with a promising policy. Adolf Hitler, a soldier in the First World War himself represents the intolerant dictator of the Nazi movement, and gains his triumph by arousing Germany from its devastated state following the negative ramifications of the war. Germany, “foolishly gambled away” by communists and Jews according to Hitler in his chronicle Mein Kampf, praises the Nazi Party due to its pact to provide order, racial purity, education, economic stability, and further benefits for the state (Hitler, 2.6). Albert Speer, who worked closely under Hitler reveals in his memoir Inside the Third Reich that the Führer “was tempestuously hailed by his numerous followers,” highlighting the appreciation from the German population in response to his project of rejuvenating their state (Speer, 15). The effectiveness of Hitler’s propaganda clearly served its purpose in distracting the public from suspecting the genuine intentions behind his plan, supported by Albert Camus’ insight in The Plague that the “townsfolk were like everybody else, wrapped up in themselves; in other words, they were humanists: they disbelieved in pestilences”(Camus, 37). In this sense “humanists” represent those who perceive all people with virtue and pureness, but the anti-humanist expression in the metaphor shows the blind-sidedness of such German citizens in identifying cruel things in the world, or Hitler. When the corruption within Nazism does receive notice, Hitler at that point given h...
Friedrich Nietzsche was a critic and a German Philosopher from the 18th century. Nietzsche was the father of psychoanalysis and he formulated several philosophical concepts that have greatly contributed to the understanding of human nature. Nietzsche ideas had been misinterpreted by many people over time specifically, due to his style of writing. Nietzsche style of writing was adopted to strengthen his arguments on various controversial topics. In this paper, I will discuss Nietzsche’s idea of naturalistic morality, master morality, self-mastery morality, and how they connect with the affirmation of nature and strength.
In 1887, two years before succumbing to utter madness, existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche writes his ethical polemic, On the Genealogy of Morals, in search of a man with the strength to evolve beyond humanity: But from time to time do ye grant me. one glimpse, grant me but one glimpse only, of something perfect, fully realized, happy, mighty, triumphant, of something that still gives cause for fear! A glimpse of a man that justifies the existence of man. for the sake of which one may hold fast to the belief in man! Nietzsche, 18.
Others still have pity for the poor and needy etc. Nietzsche dislikes religion especially Christianity because it encourages and promotes slave morality. Nietzsche says that we should be striving towards master morality, but Christianity has the completely opposite values to those of the master morality. For example, religion wants us to be like slaves and give things up instead of trying to be great. He talks about a slave revolt in morality, which leads to the dominance of slave values over master values.
Few other names in philosophy hold such deep meaning in Western society as Nietzsche. Variously linked by scholars to nihilism, existentialism, and thee Nazis (though he died two decades before National Socialism took root in Germany) Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most misunderstood philosopher in history. He embraced no formal school of philosophy; he was stridently independent. As for the misappropriation of his works by Nazi sympathizers and others…I believe people will find support for their ideals in any book.
" There was neither men nor gods. The only thing that existed was its own impulse, without there being any breath. " Nothing else existed, but Brahman which derived from heat. From the germ potential develops desire.
Nietzsche’s ideas are most clearly reflected in Roy Cohn: a power driven, “heterosexual” lawyer, “who fucks around with guys” (Kushner 52). Nietzsche’s writings emphasize mankind’s natural desire to gain power. This desire serves as a driving force behind all of man’s actions. Nietzsche also asserted that traditional morality was an institution established to curb society’s scramble for power. Due to this belief, Nietzsche claimed man must cast aside traditional morality, as it is serves as a roadblock, in order to be more successful in his quest for power. The superman was a concept he introduced, meaning a type of man who is able to access great power as a result of releasing himself from social restraints. This was the ultimate form of mankind, and only is possible when he releases moral obligation and restraint completely, and it can be argued that Roy Cohn is Kushner’s superman.
“God is dead. God remains dead, and we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become Gods simply to appear worthy of it?” (2). This quote was said by one of the greatest philosophers to have lived; Friedrich Nietzsche. Although Friedrich Nietzsche is not as well known as some of the philosophers that we’ve discussed in class; such as Plato, Descartes, or Socrates, he and his ideas have influenced the views of modern philosophy today. Friedrich Nietzsche is a german philosopher that was born October 15, 1844 and died at the ago of 55 on August 25th, 1900. Although Friedrich Nietzsche died at a fairly young age it doesn't mean that he didn't leave us with anything to remember him by. A few of his greatest works were; “The Will to Power, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, Antichrist and, The Gay Science” (6). The last of which I will be talking about in this essay because it contains Nietzsche’s; “God is Dead” pronouncement, which is what this paper will pertain to.