Augustine The Enlightenment

This change in thinking from the old Greek philosophers to Augustine would have a large impact because in the Western world, Christianity was taking root of most major cultures and the church behind this was the Catholic Church, of whom Augustine was a very important figure. His writings became the basis of Catholic doctrine and lasted for hundreds of years in the same way Aristotle and his works impacted the western world for so long. Now the main beliefs held throughout Europe and affecting most of the thinkers we read about up into the Enlightenment went off of Augustine’s teachings. The God-centric view of achieving such great feats as true happiness only through devotion and righteousness in the eyes of God became universal in the Catholic …show more content…
And in order to live a good life and a happy one, men must not be afraid to look out for oneself, because, according to Nietzsche, “The noble soul has reverence for itself” (“Essay 1”, Part 9, 287). And what he means by this is that a truly righteous man in terms of morality and happiness will not just adhere to a set of laws because it has been commanded, when it comes down to it, he will look out for himself because it is in his best interest to look out for him first. And by doing this he can truly be a great man and achieve happiness and power and the rest. Nietzsche brings up nobles as the example of who is truly happy, they look out for themselves first and watch out and make sure their spot is secure. And when they know it is secure they can enjoy whatever it is they want to do in order to achieve happiness. By being in a position of power, they have the ability to be truly happy because they have the ability to pursue whatever the individual wants at the …show more content…
The disdain was due to the overbearing need to govern and dictate individuals’ lives by a strict code of conduct. What Augustine believed, while similar to Aristotle, in that happiness comes to those who follow a good and a righteous set of morals and shun vices also repelled Aristotle by saying the individual is unable to do such things on his own. This doctrine was rejected by both Hegel and Nietzsche as they both argued in separate ways that it is not a single structure that all people must follow to obtain happiness, rather it is an individual path through what a person wants and will go and obtain that will lead to true happiness. Following a doctrine is what the sheep do according to Nietzsche and only those when history is being created, according to