...MARXISM Over 150 years ago Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto. In The Communist Manifesto they were the first to give a thorough and scientific analysis of the laws and workings of capitalist society: why it results in the polarization of wealth and how it can be overthrown. In the last few years their ideas have been regaining popularity. At the end of 1999 Marx was voted the greatest thinker of the millennium in a BBC online poll. It is the economic crisis of capitalism internationally that has forced many to reassess their view of Marx. Capitalism is a cyclical system: crises can be caused by a number of factors, such as financial crashes or political unrest. Marx recognized that capitalism, despite all its abuses, played an important role in developing the productive forces and the world market. It was an advance from the feudal societies that preceded it. Today, capitalism has developed the world market and the wealth, science and technology have laid the foundations for a socialist society. Under capitalism, wealth and power have always been concentrated in the hands of the capitalists. And the development of technology is driven by the need for profit. The anarchy of the capitalist market always results in increasing wealth and power for a few but poverty for the many. Today the capitalists are a far wealthier and a far smaller class than they were in Marx's time. In the last 50 years the wealth gap between the richest 20% of humanity and...
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...Tim Livolsi PHI-144 March 21, 2014 Nietzsche’s Superman In one of Friedrich Nietzsche’s most popular pieces of literature, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, he illustrates what would turn out to be one of his most notable philosophical ideals – that of the overman. The term “overman” refers to Nietzsche’s perception of a person who has prevailed over himself and human nature. Essentially, an overman is an individual who has surpassed the constraints of the human condition and achieved a point of freedom – limitless and allowing for creativity. This condition can be viewed as the status of a person in his entirety, an individual unfettered by the pressures and societal requirements of civilization and other people. Furthermore, the overman wills his own destiny, creates his own values, and dances with the game of life to the tune of his own spirit. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra¸ Nietzsche writes of three spiritual metamorphoses that must be undergone for the individual to reach the state of the overman. These transformations are somewhat narrow in nature, and thus can be seen as a type of guide to becoming the overman, or liberating one’s spirit. In this paper, I will interpret the three stages in the metamorphosis to becoming the overman, and provide an evaluation of how the concept of an overman can apply to us specifically. The first metamorphosis described by Zarathustra – Nietzsche’s mouthpiece – is that of the camel. He asks: What is difficult? asks the spirit that would bear much...
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...Journal Entry 11.Chapter 5: The teacher and his teachings, Pages: 108-109. Monday 24, 2014 A New Kind of Teacher Socrates a different kind of teacher, he was not paid to be a teacher and his teaching method was different. He believed that people could not think clearly if they are not clear on what they are analyzing or talking about. Therefore, in his teaching sessions he would ask questions and answer them the best he could. So I wondered, how different would the education system be if we had follow Socrates way of teaching? Socrates is one of the most important people in western philosophy. I found it interesting that we have no writings from his own hand, from his two students Plato and Xenophon. I agreed with Socrates claim that appearance of the body is less important than how it functions and true beauty comes from spirit and character. I questioned if spirit and character is more important than the physical appearance, why do modern society judge an individual based on their physical appearance? Journal Entry 12. Chapter 6: the Theory of forms. Pages 144. Thursday, February 20, 2014. Knowledge Vs. Opinion Plato is one of the philosophers that interest me the most because of his search for knowledge outside his “comfort zone.” Plato left the Athens and wandered for twelve years and during that time he studied mathematics and mysticism. For me, as a math minor, it was interesting to see how mathematics influenced Plato’s philosophy and I wondered, does an individual’s...
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...Was the Spartacist uprising the most important problem faced by the Weimar Republic in the years 1919-1923? Explain your answer. The most important problem that the Weimar Republic faced was the Kapp Putsch. This was because in this uprising the Freikorps units managed to get the Weimar government to flee showing that they had a lot of power and were undermining the Weimar Republic. However, even though this was the most important reason there were other factors that caused problems for the Weimar Republic from the years 1919-1923 including the Spartacist uprising, the French occupation of the Ruhr and the weaknesses of the Constitution. To determine which factor is the most important I will look at how successful each factor and how many problems each of them caused the Weimar Republic in regards to money and power. Although, all these factors caused problems for the Weimar Republic it was the Kapp Putsch that put pressure on the Weimar Republic and was important problem they had to face. The Kapp Putsch was the most significant problem that the Weimar Republic faced from 1919-1923. This was due to them having a strong army subsequently putting a lot of pressure on the Weimar Republic. This was the biggest threat to the Weimar Republic as Dr. Wolfgang who was in charge of the rebellion managed to get the Weimar Republic to flee therefore putting him in power and making this rebellion a success. One of the reasons why this was such an important problem that the Weimar...
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...In the late 1700’s and 1800’s several theories regarding the economy emerged. Some economic theorist such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels write about whats wrong with the economy and how they wanted to fix the economy. The eighteenth century thinker Adam Smith (1723 – 1790) is taken as a very useful example of liberal ideas. Adam Smith was both the explained and advocate of liberal capitalism, and the forerunner of the critique of capitalism. Smith believes that societies should be protected against the invasion of other societies meaning, societies should not be affected by other societies, and all citizens should have the same justice in every way. Smith thinks the motivation of improving your self work goes to the production of goods in a economic system. People want to improve their social status with improves the economy, the reason people work is to make money and money is the foundation to a stable government. Friedrich Engles and Karl Marx, they both believed in modern day communism and socialism. they both thought that the problem with society is that it was very hard to get a job wasn't like today with you give a application and they see if you qualify, back then very few jobs not a lot of shops to work at and even if a random person got a job witch is unlikely, the job would pay horribly; and when you don't have a job your poor, on the streets and starving. So at that point you either end up stealing money and food or you just die of hunger...
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...I have known [] in the capacity of his World History teacher for the last four years. I taught him first during GCE O Levels and I am currently teaching him in GCE A Level. He is easily one of the top few if not the top student that I have taught in my teaching career. [] is extremely driven and his thirst for knowledge takes him to unexpected shelves of college and other libraries around Lahore. I know this because he usually comes searching for me after these visits to discuss new ideas he has picked up or discuss subsequent book lists. He took five extra subjects at GCE O Levels and secured A*’s in all of them. Word History was one of these subjects and is usually taught only at GCE A Levels in Aitchison and at first, the school administration was reluctant to introduce it for GCE O Level students. [] decided to take the initiative to convince them that it would be a good idea and wrote an application to the headmaster detailing why the subject should be offered and then he went around convincing people in his batch to take up World History until there was a sufficient number of students to convince the administration. In class, he has demonstrated an ability to critically analyse historical events. He presents interesting arguments that are well thought out and incisive. His subject knowledge is not restricted to the syllabus. Last week, our class was having a general discussion on Bolshevism and Marxism. I was greatly impressed by his answers and arguments that he supported...
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...observation; for it is out of those images that he interprets life, out of these processes that he trains himself for life” (The Birth of Tragedy, 15) ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>F. Nietzsche</Author><Year>2008</Year><DisplayText>(Nietzsche)</DisplayText><record><ref-type name="Journal Article">17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author>F. Nietzsche</author></authors></contributors><titles/><title>The Birth of Tragedy</title><periodical/><dates><year>2008</year><pub-dates/></dates></record></Cite></EndNote>(Nietzsche). This passage was extracted from one of Friedrich Nietzsche’s works, particularly the one entitled, the Birth of Tragedy. In order to have a clearer understanding of the Nietzsche meant when he mentioned these exact words in his work, it would be important to be familiarized with the context in which he said it. Part of that includes knowing what the work in which the phrase was a part of was all about. The Birth of Tragedy is a highly philosophical work that is divided into a total of twenty six chapters which includes the last one that was dedicated for the foreword. The first half of the work focused on the nature of Greek art and tragedy. The remaining half of the work focused on explaining the model by which traditional and modern culture was made ADDIN EN.CITE <EndNote><Cite><Author>W...
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...Kant vs. Nietzsche One of the most fundamental questions in philosophy is what the most important thing we are looking for is and what effects it has on our lives. There are different views related to such a fundamental question. The treatment of people is the question of morality. We are going to take a look at positions taken by great German philosophers Kant and Nietzsche on the question of morality and the way people should be treated, based on their arguments presented in theories developed by them. Kant’s philosophy is based on the assumption that there is a metaphysical dimension which implies that there are some absolute things that do exist outside of human beings and which are the ends in themselves (not intended to promote an achievement of any other end). Kant calls these abstract absolute things the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative in his view is something that is not dependent on anything else and, therefore, should be something that we should strive for. The concept of the categorical imperative is important because we can use it to determine whether our actions are being moral through the application of the universal law, which implies the categorical imperative. The universal law says that we should never act except in such a way that we can also will that our maxim should become a universal law. The whole system of Kant’s morality is based on the assumption that there is an autonomous will, which is the source of moral action and decision-making...
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...Friedrich Nietzsche is a famous philosopher whose works have made him one of Germanys most profound scholars to-date as well as an interesting character in the history of philosophical thought. Nietzsche was well known for challenging Christianity as well other monotheistic religions for their apparent suppression of the poor and the working classes. In the context of the 1800’s, the philosophical movement of the enlightenment was helping Europeans move away from structural monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church by use of reasoning. (Anderson, 2007, p510). Being raised in a Catholic household, his Grandfather and father were both pastors who encouraged a young Friedrich down a religious route. However, at the age of 14 he surprised them all after he decided he was not going to confirm as a catholic (Hill, 2007, p6). One major contribution of work by Nietzsche is his concept of the death of God. This came as a reaction to the Enlightenment era- understanding reason to reject the Church in favour of liberty. Probably his most famous contribution to philosophy (Nietzsche, 1882/2006, p90) ‘God is dead’ uses a parable of a madman accusing the atheists of killing God without realising. He calls this...
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...Friedrich Nietzsche’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra,” is often considered his magnum opus, exploring many of the ideas that Nietzsche had earlier mentioned in works like “The Gay Science,” and “Beyond Good and Evil.” Nietzsche reveals his thoughts on many matters through the character of Zarathustra, a philosopher beyond mankind. One of the most famous parables that Zarathustra utters is “God is dead,” and through these words, Nietzsche exposes the historical context in which he lived, the idea of mankind superseding God as a supreme being, and the resulting fear of nihilism that derives from that trend (Nietzsche, 1999, p. 3). Ultimately, these words do not reveal Nietzsche to be an atheist but rather reflect the position of the author in regards...
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...Nietzsche would find the underground man as relatable but misguided. The underground man is not concerned with morals and reason as much as he is concerned with autonomy. Likewise, Nietzsche felt that we should not look to morals and ethics when we make decisions. However, Nietzsche did believe that should affirm life with their actions. The underground man felt that when presented a situation where one should act in a specific way, that individual should occasionally act in a different way to exercise one’s autonomy. Throughout Notes from the Underground, the underground man demonstrates self-spite and an inability to act. For instance, the underground man starts his writing with, “I believe my liver is diseased,” and continues with,...
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...In section 3, Nietzsche uses the ancient legend of King Midas and Silenus to highlight a certain aspect of Hellenic culture. Specifically, the origin of the Olympian gods. He introduces the myth as a way of dealing with someone who questions the morality of the Olympian beings, as it is easy to observe that these creatures did not practice asceticism, nor were good and evil important to them. How could people look to this kind of existence and perceive it as ideal? Nietzsche would instruct the inquisitor of this sort of question to turn their head to the “popular Greek wisdom” of Silenus, found in the myth. The legend recounts King Midas searching for and capturing Silenus, a wise companion of Dionysus, with the hopes of finding “the best and most excellent thing for human beings.” Silenus, according to Nietzsche, begins his response by making a fair point, calling humanity ephemeral, and brushing humans off as “children of chance and tribulation.” He then tells the king that the best thing for a human would be to have never existed in the first place, and the second best would be to die as quickly as possible, which I presume was not exactly what Midas was looking for. Nietzsche takes this myth as proof of the Greeks understanding the true implications of existence, and further goes on to argue that this knowledge of existence is what forced them to create these gods. To do this, Nietzsche creates an analogy for the Olympian gods, likening them to “roses burst forth from a...
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...Friedrich Nietzsche conveys his view on freedom in short, provocative statements dispersed throughout his writings. In this essay, I will discuss Nietzsche’s conception of freedom as presented in two of his works: The Genealogy of Morals and The Gay Science. To begin, in Section 12 from The Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche introduces to us the term, “will to power” (GM, pg 78) with which he uses synonymously with the term, “instinct for freedom” in latter sections of the essay. Although Nietzsche never clearly defines what he means when he says, “will to power,” he provides the reader a depiction of this concept through the origin of punishment. According to Nietzsche, the concept of punishment contains an aspect that is enduring and an aspect that is fluid (GM, pg 79). In other words, the act of punishing remains the same, but the meaning of the act changes radically over time. For example, while the barbarians of ancient time may have used punishment as a “festival, namely as the rape and mockery of a finally defeated enemy,” modern morality uses punishment as “a means of rendering harmless, or preventing further harm” or even “as the isolation of a disturbance of equilibrium (GM, pg 80). Thus, Nietzsche shows that the significance of punishment is not the act itself, but the meaning that we attach to it. Because the meaning of punishment is independent of the act itself, we can essentially understand...
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...Liberal capitalism was as well known and tried system in Great Britain during the 19th century. However, around the late 19th century a new system began to appear, communism. These two systems were quite different when it came to their political and economic views. This new system gave rise to some believing that maybe it was time for Great Britain to change their former system of liberal capitalism to one that is more communist in nature. Others believed it was better to leave the system as it was. To decide on which would be better for the country one must first look at the ideas that lay behind both liberal capitalism and communism. One had to delve into the core of both systems and discover not only the positive implications, but also the possible negative implications as well. The term liberal capitalism is one that was well known throughout Great Britain. It was a system based upon the individual. It was a system that was primarily driven by free enterprise and the existence of classes. The government had very little say in what the market was like; this was known as a free market. The primary view was that this was the best form of economic system due to the fact that the individuals themselves set the amount of production and the prices of those products. David Ricardo believed that the wages received naturally fluctuated to meet the minimum subsistence requirements for workers. As he stated, “The market price of labour is the price which is really paid for it” (“Ricardo...
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...(A) 1.On the Genealogy of Morality is a philosophical treatise by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, first published in 1887, and is also a follow-up to Beyond Good and Evil. , a book previously written by Nietzsche. 2. This book is composed of a preface and three additional sections which discuss the ways in which our views of morality have changed. He goes through history and gives a timeline of how morality has changed up until the time of when the book was written. One major point of Nietzsche is that there is a difference between a thing and its meaning. He argues that things don’t have an inherent meaning, and that the meaning of those things have changed over time. In the books he connects this concept with or view of morality, and in particular to good and evil. Thus he arrives at a conclusion that there isn’t any objective and inherent truth to morality. He concludes the one can only have a true understanding of things only when we realize that the meaning of certain things has changed overtime. In this book he explains this in further detail with his “will to power” perspective. (3) Outline- Prologue 1) Good and Evil, Good and Bad A) Faulty Explanations of Morality B) Meaning of Good C) Change in language - Change in power D) Jews as Priestly class - Revaluation of values E) Lambs and Birds of Prey F) Slave Morality - Justice -Christian Hatred2 Guilt, Bad Conscience, and Related Matters A) Promises -human predictability B) Guilt C) Suffering ...
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