Nietzsche and Platonism - 935 Words

In 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 Europe at the time of Nietzsches 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 the†¦show more content†¦The Christian is a nihilist in that they reject the only kind of life possible in the here and now, and in this rejection they undercut the possibility of the only type of meaning that ever was or ever will be available to man. They hate the world in which they are what they are, so they desire a world ruled by the mediocre. Throughout Twilight of the Idols, it is apparent that Nietzsche felt that when the weakest portions of society band together, perverting and distorting the natural order, the situation becomes nihilism. Christianity is a symptom of this tendency, but in the example of Socrates we have the typical model of the slave revolt against master morality and the most significant aspect of modern nihilism. The most important thing to know about Socrates, according to Nietzsche, is that he was ugly. This physiological fact accounts for his entire orientation towards life in the Greek Polis. He sought to take revenge upon the beautiful culture of the Greeks, and in a masterful departure from nature, he developed the art of logical arguments. It was in the practice of logic and argumentation that Socrates saw his opportunity to overpower the authority of those around him and to thus secure a position of moral superiority to them. Anyone can learn logic, and since logic is directly opposed to unsu bstantiated appeals to authority, Socrates and his followers were advocates of a kind of a type of nihilism which invitedShow MoreRelated Nietzsche And Platonism Essay examples916 Words   |  4 Pages 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 cultureRead 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 influential 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