Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher and avid scholar. He
wrote several critical, metaphorical, and ironic texts on religion, morality,
contemporary culture, philosophy and science. Nietzsche's key ideas include
perspectivism and the death of God. He embraces the realities of the world in
which we live over the idea of a world beyond. He radically questioned the
value and objectivity of truth. In 1889, he suffered a collapse and a complete
loss of his mental faculties. His breakdown led his to live the rest of his
life under the care of his mother and sister, until his death.
Nietzsche was a very intelligent
man who was struck by his own psychological health. He looked towards every
angle of this situation, unlike Kant’s orderly presentation of ideas. He
famously said that “God is dead.” He
believed that if God is truly dead then the ordinary standards of morals were
obsolete. Right and wrong make sense in a world with a god, but they don’t in a
godless one. He thought we would be beyond morality. The death of God opened
new possibilities for humanity. He thought the plus side of this was that
individuals could create their own values for themselves. Nietzsche thought
that you had to go back and look at the history in which these religious morals
brought themselves up. He thought that moralities could easily be changed
depending on what that individual wants. He thought that if you hold back
traditional moral codes you can surpass the normal human and create a better
one. However, the Nazi’s took this in a different light and rolled with a pure
race should dominate all others. His work was taken over by his sister once he
was emitted into an asylum, His sister pulled and added things to Nietzsche’s
work and made it further support the Nazi party.
I
admired a lot of Nietzsche’s points and ideals. His ideas on religion and
morals spoke to me. I agree that maybe we should overlook the traditional views
on what is right and what is wrong and define our own morals. It’s a tad bit
selfish, but I still agree with this ideology. However, I cannot agree with his
crazy sexist views on the world and his disproval of subjects. His works
supported Nazi establishments. It may have been due to his sisters further
editing of his works that made it so well known by the Nazi party, but the fact
that it helped Hitler and his awful view on the world makes me hate it even
more.
"Right and wrong make sense in a world with a god, but they don’t in a godless one." We MUST reject this, since we live in a world in which choices must be made, and lives lived, whether or not there is a god. I've never understood the "everything is permitted if there's no god" attitude. If it's wrong to lie, steal, cheat, etc., then it's wrong. Whether there's a cosmic rewarder/punisher for right & wrong behavior is another issue.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm sure Ricky Gervais knows this but not everyone does: Nietzsche couldn't have had that conversation with Hitler. He died in 1900 (and was insane after 1889, if not earlier).
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