Nietzsche’s ‘Parable of the Madman’ purports many notions of philosophical importance, entwined throughout an agglomerate of various literary techniques, as often the case with his parables and aphorisms. Before exploring this, it is important to note the philosophical climate in which Nietzsche was writing and, as such, the audience for whom he was writing for. This parable is contained within his book ‘The Gay Science’, first published in 1882. This was a period following the end of the enlightenment: a period of intense intellectual energy, whereby the grips of religion were becoming looser due to the influence of many greats- such as Immanuel Kant, who is at great odds with Nietzsche philosophically, especially with regards to morality (Huskinson, 2009). For example, Kant upholds the notion of a universal, a priori law.
The most impressive of these conflicts is conflict between people, and more importantly, conflict with people’s spirituality. which has been fueling discourse and decision making since the beginning of human time, and furthermore, human history. In Friedrich Nietzsche’s essay, “The Genealogy of Morals,” he made countless provocative, liberal statements which exemplified his ideals and pessimism and a lack of faith in organized religion. This is spurred on by his background, tracing back to his parents traditional Lutheran roots, which they attempted to press upon Nietzsche. This led him to push those ideas away, and seeking his own answers to religion and philosophy, seeming to lead into a disillusionment with religion, and a
Critics of Religion Midterm 2. Although Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas and work have long been associated with atheism and even the antisemitism that would eventually lead to the Holocaust, I think a slightly more fitting description of his point of view in The Genealogy of Morals might be “anticlerical”. While I believe there are good arguments that can be made for both atheism and anticlericalism, Nietzsche seems to focus most of his energy on critiquing religious clergy such as priests as well as organized religion and its impact on morality, rather than critiquing belief in God. The first essay includes an etymology of the words “good” and “bad” and how they underwent a transvaluation at some point due to religious clergy, which ultimately lead to a morality system that he argues is not natural or innate within us. The second essay deals with guilt and
At length I would be avenged.” And then he says, “I must not only punish but punish with impunity” (pg 866). The narrator is addressing to the reader like his friend, trying to appeal to us the feeling of acting upon revenge, how we have felt the need of vengeance upon another. This use of language gives the reader an understanding of the narrator’s state of mind, how obsessed he is in the act of his unspecified revenge to the point that it seems like he is thinking like a madman. This builds up the dark and ominous tone towards the narrator’s act of revenge on Fortunato. "The man wore motley.
Bierce extends the figure of the double, which appears in many of his stories, to reflect his dissatisfaction with the limitations of the contemporary realistic aesthetic and to express his pessimistic perspective on developing nineteenth century concepts of human psychology and his philosophical view of the double-edged human psyche, a theory about the dichotomous nature of the human mind— a study in philosophy as well as psychology. Key Words: Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce, Doppelganger, Pessimistic Perspective on Human Psychology An American Civil War hero as well as an editorial columnist for several newspapers, including William Randolph Hearst 's San Francisco Examiner, Ambrose Gwinett Bierce (1842-1914?) was best known during his lifetime for his vituperative political satire and acerbic wit in his legendary "Prattle" column as well as his epigrammatic Devils Dictionary. However, modern Bierce scholars are now recognizing Bierce 's unique mastery of the short
GEORGE SANTAYANA George Santayana was a Spanish American philosopher, writer, artist, and author. George Santayana was born on 16 December 1863 in Madrid, Spain. He died on 26 September 1952 in Rome, Italy at 89 years old.He was well known as an American man of letters. He got his Ph.D in in philosophy from Harvard in 1889. He became famous for his novel "The Last Puritan", distributed in 1935.
He also uses idiomatic dictions in various contexts. Milton mainly uses the idiomatic diction in three contexts. One is satire. Milton uses satire against the fallen angels or at the folly of men. He also uses idiomatic diction when human and spiritual meet and also in the context of world after the fall.
Thoughts and ideas, either salubrious or deleterious, constantly swarm the human mind. At one point, our thoughts reinforce our spiritual and worldly beliefs; at other times, our thoughts vanquish our life values, tarnishing our personalities. Emily Dickinson addresses changing, ambiguous mental states in her poem “There’s a certain Slant of Light”, describing her personal rise and falls while coping with depression. To convey this theme, Dickinson relies on a single literary device: juxtaposition. Through contrasting definitions of light and spirituality, Dickinson illuminates how depression affects the various mental states, creating a warped outlook on life.
These writers make use of violence in order to portray themes such as revenge, justice, redemption, and many more. In addition, the role of these acts of brutality is also to explore more complex concepts like the innate cruelty in humanity, the relationship between God (or Gods) and mankind, and the justification of these very actions.
Philip Pullman said (about Milton), “when he writes about Hell and Devil, he writes with freedom. But when he writes about Heaven and Angels, he writes with chains”. He feels that Milton is of the devil’s party and that he knows it. In accordance with this belief, one may say that, in Satan, Milton portrays a part of himself. He brings out his beliefs and his arguments against God through the character of Satan.