Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

was deemed to become the age of information has become the age of miscommunication. Modernism was and is to a large extent the most infectious and violent critical discourse birthed from the Enlightenment and the modern culture industry has brought mass society into a state of passivity – a culture that now “impresses the same stamp on everything” (Adorno, Horkheimer, 1). The world has become interconnected to the point in which individuals have become so alienated and isolated from it’s larger processes that only when an issue is unavoidable that anxiety begins to absolutely posses the mind. “In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality.” (Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, 34) A primal issue which rises out of modernism and must be explored is our false vision of freedom in choice - although we feel that our beliefs belong to us, the dilemma of the enlightenment is that an immutable socially mediated element has caused our ideas to fragment in subjectivity. Contemporary theory tends to sway towards a breakdown between theory and practice – this contributes to the construction of authoritative discourse. The Enlightenment has proven to be incapable of it’s promise of producing freedom in a world where man is alienated from nature – the operation of instrumental reason has become the driving force of modernity – the promise of freedom and the construction of imprisonment. Modern society and its…

At this time Marx became intellectually influenced by Henri de Saint-Simon and his followers (Appelrouth & Edles 2012). During this time Marx formulated Christian Socialism, an attempt at organizing modern industrial society according to the social principles espoused by Christianity (Appelrouth & Edles 2012). The contributions of many forward thinkers went into forming the established theories of Marx including, but not limited to, political economists Adam Smith and David Ricardo. During this…

towards the benefits of the state. The benefits of the group are driven by politics and properties and businesses are owned by the state instead of the individuals. Ultimately, both systems limit the freedoms of the individual as well as their economic success. Communism is an economic theory established by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848. Karl Marx (1818 -1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895), who are philosophers, economists, sociologists, and journalists, wanted to end capitalism…

This verse has a striking similarity with Nietzsche 's explanation of Gay Science that should carry the heaviest burden. Hafez also believes that this burden is so heavy that even the whole cosmological order could not carry it and flinched from accepting this huge responsibility and transferred it to human. His interpretation of "burden" gives primarily a negativ impression and later a positive one: when one undertakes the burden, first of all, its weight hunches one 's shoulder. But, it is in…

constantly was drunk and fought with students. His dad then enrolled him at the University of Berlin, there he studied philosophy and law for four years. He was introduced to philosophy by his professor, G.W.F Hegel and became in association with a group called “Young Hegelians,” where they opposed and criticized many institutions, such as politics, philosophy, and religion. After graduating, Marx became a journalist. He began writing for the Rheinische Newspaper, and became the editor in 1842.…

There are few philosophical quotes as well know but misunderstood than Frederick Nietzsche’s quote “God is dead”. This phrase first appeared in an 1882 collection of Nietzsche’s work entitled The Gay Science and since then has be a prime example of the inherent controversy involved with philosophy. However, despite the phrase evoking strong reactions and being parodied in pop culture, very few people are aware of what it actually means. In order to understand what Nietzsche meant by “God is…

Kultur versus Natur While German anthropologists rejected the theory of evolution, there was still an interest in understanding the relationship between Kultur and Natur. They rejected evolutionism because it “placed steric categories of human nature into a fluid continuum…” (Zimmerman, 2001, p. 69). Nature, to German anthropologists before the 20th century was perceived to be a “static system of categories that allowed them, in their study of natural peoples, to grasp an unchanging essence of…

In his collection of essays On the Genealogy of Morality, Nietzsche distinguishes between the moral systems of good/bad and good/evil and describes their origins, as well as problems that arise with the origins of good/evil in order to analyze two different moral systems and their implications. Nietzsche first distinguishes between the two moral systems of good/bad and good/evil in order to draw a contrast. Good/bad is defined as those with power and those without power: the good, like the…

The author Friedrich Nietzsche in his text (“The Madman”, 1882) used a narrative to prove a point. To be more specific he wanted to show or demonstrate to people how bad was the status of religion and of faith in Europe around his time (1882-1887) the time when he was publishing “The Gay Science”. The story started with a man who is described as a “madman”. The madman begins by entering a marketplace and starts to shout loudly “I seek God! I seek God!” He then encounters a group of people in the…

Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher who played a big part in the knowledge of theory, ethics and the beauty and nature in life. He was born in Königsberg, east Prussia. Which is now a part of Russia, but back then was known as a part of Germany. Immanuel was a huge influence on all aspects of philosophy especially the different schooling of Kantianism and Idealism. Kantianism is the rightness or wrongness of actions that does not depend on the consequences of those actions, but on if they…