These notes were taken from my class with Dr. Reyes for Philosophy 118 this Friday... since I might be absent from class today, I must apologize in advance that I might be unable to take notes today.
.:Additional Thoughts On The Aesthetic Phenomenon:.
Due to Nietzsche's criticisms of language and morality, what is true and what is good is put into question. However, what is beautiful would appear to merely be something that is subjective.
Yet when we take note of our liturgy, a lot of it is aesthetic. The burning candle, the scent of the incense, the soothing music of the choir, the vaunted architecture of a Gothic church, and so forth. It would seem that the experience of the beautiful would be the saving grace for the artist
He believes that God, if He existed, would be a dancing God. He thinks upon God as an innocent child at play. At this point, Dr. Reyes talks about his experiences of innocence with his two sons.
Nietzsche believes that we should make our life a work of art. For him, the highest form of art is music because it is so direct and visceral. As such, the real ubermensch is the artist.
.:Karl Marx:.
Karl Marx was born in 1818 and he died in 1883. Ironically, he came from a rich family, and believe he was a failure near his death since nobody seemed to pick up on his writings. Only after his work has been translated into Russian did he truly begin to make his mark in the world.
We study Karl Marx despite the steady decline of communism because Marxism is not necessarily the same as Communism. Communism, in fact steps beyond Marxism, as a lot of it materialized out of improvisation for when the Bolshevik revolution unexpectedly succeeded.
In 1824, Marx was christened. His parents were Jewish of heritage, yet converted to Protestantism in order to expedite their way of life in Germany. He was born in the city of Treve/Trier, a city that sometimes fell into French or German territory, depending on the situation.
In 1835, he was sent to Bonn University to study law. Unfortunately, Marx didn't do too well in school, going on drinking binges, and even getting wounded due to a duel. He also had a girlfriend.
In 1836, he was transferred by his father to Berlin University so that he could stay out of trouble.
In 1841, he graduated with a Doctorate in Philosophy. He thought he could teach in the university, but the people in the university thought he was too radical.
In May 1842, he tried journalism. He was sending articles to Rheinische Zeitung, “The Rhine Times”. He sent so many articles, that by October, he became the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.
In 1843, the Prussian censorship closed down the paper because it was deemed as too radical. Shortly after this, he married his childhood sweetheart and then went to Paris and start a new paper there, called “Deutsch Franzoschiche Jahrbuchen”.
In February 1844, the first issue of the Jahrbuchen came out, and again, even the generally neutral Parisian authorities found it too radical, which meant this was also the last issue of the Jahrbuchen. At this point, he encountered members of the communist and socialist movement, and at this point, from a Hegelian (An idealist.) way of thinking, he shifted into a more down-to-earth mode of thinking. This was the year he wrote “Oekonomisch-philosophische Manuskripte”. This was arguably his best work that he wrote on his own, whereas his other more popular works were actually co-written with Engels.
In 1845, he was expelled from Paris and he went to Brussels from Belgium, a city that was even more liberal than Paris was.
.:Quotable Quotes:.
Vincent Van Gogh didn't lose his ear in a fit of rage. The true story was that he had a mistress who asked him if he truly loved her.
To prove it to him, he cut off his own ear, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and gave it to her.
“Oh, Vincent. Now I truly know how much you love me!” cooed the mistress.
Tragically, Vincent responds, “Huh? What was that? I can't hear you.”
- Dr. Reyes, telling a joke
“I was appointed as in charge of torture for our prisoners by the French Foreign Legion in Algeria. I initially enjoyed it, but shortly after, I felt I was losing my humanity.”
- Karl Marx
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