Philosophy 118: 12 November, 2008

These notes were taken from my class with Dr. Reyes for Philosophy 118 this Wednesday...

.:Historical Approach Vs. Systematic Approach:.

Historical Approach shows that man is never at a final truth because as history develops, something new comes along that the Philosopher has to take into account. Ergo, Philosophical though never comes to an end.

Systematic Approach takes the body as a whole, acting as if there is a certain whole that can already be grasped by looking at what has come at a certain point.

Here, we can see the epochal modes of focus of thinkers, and point out three examples of note...

Aristotle – Philosophy is a product of leisure
Modern Thinkers – The man's rationality can produce a perfect society
Marx – Philosophy is intrinsic to the worker

.:The Fall Of Modernity:.

Modernization has brought progress, but also proletariatization, as well as the impersonal war. While modern man thought that they could make a perfect society through rational thinking, the evidence showed that as technology developed, man's inhumanity to man became more and more ingrained in the system. From dehumanizing conditions for the worker to a war that can be fought and won without having to deploy an army, the modern sensibility that man's rationality is the standard by which a perfect society can be attained eroded as these social ills and horrors made themselves clear.

.:Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: 1844-1900:.

Nietzsche was born in Saxony, Germany. His father was a Lutheran pastor. His mother's family also has ties with Lutheran ministry. In 1849, his father passed away. This meant that he was raised by his mother, grandmother, two aunts, and a sister younger than him by two years.

From 1858 to 1864, he was sent to a school called Schulpforta, at the time, Germany's most famous Protestant boarding school. This is where Nietzsche got a good classical education.

In 1864, he studied in the university of Bonn, studying the classics.

In 1865, a group of his classmates played a practical joke on him. They physically took him against his will, and dropped him into a brothel. A friend said, “Mulierem numquar attigit” (“He never touched a woman.”)

After this, he transferred to University of Leipzig from Bonn.

In 1867, he had to do military service. He decided to join the cavalry.

In 1868, he fell from a horse. This proved to be another traumatic experience for him. From whores to horses.

In 1869, he was offered by the University of Basle to be an “extraordinary professor”. Note that this is an equivalent of “teaching assistant” in our common parlance, not as a professor with special characteristics.

In 1870, he was offered a full professorship, but with a war occurring at this time, he relinquished his professorship in favor of volunteering for the war.

When he came back in 1871, he took a sick leave soon after returning to the university. He went to the Swiss Alps.