HCJ catch up

Well, I had intended over the past 4 weeks to do one HCJ post a week to catch up on the ones that I have so far failed to blog about, but that clearly didn’t work, so I’m smushing (technical term) it all into this one. Enjoy.

German Idealism

German idealism derives from an antithesis and dislike of British Empiricism and was influenced by the Romantic Movement.  It is based on the idea that metaphysics as a possible/worthwhile activity.

Kant, “the anti-Hume” according to my notes, tried to prove that all knowledge comes from experience but not through generalising observations through pure logic. He says that our knowledge is also based on ideas that are, in a way, instinctive and not logical.

	A Priori	A Posteriori
Analytic	Triangles have three sides Bicycles have 2 wheels	???
Synthetic	7+5=12	Dogs bark Fire burns

Hegel believed that the only thing that does not change is that things change. He came up with the idea that all things have a “geist” or ghost form so that though things change/decay, it is still that thing. For example, though you grow older and change, your still you therefore you must have a geist.

Schopenhauer suggested that suffering is essential to life and is caused by will which makes people pursue things that leave them feeling unfulfilled and unhappy. He thinks that a good man goes against will and nature.

Scepticism

The 4 Great sceptics:

1.       Marx – class ideology, economics
2.       Nietzsche – morality, culture
3.       Weber – power, legitimacy
4.       Freud – sexuality, irrationality

                            all believe there is no absolute or definite truth and that all experience is seen from a certain perspective. They all also think that the clouding of the enlightenment lead to cultural pessimism.

Weber & Bureaucracy

As there was no revolution as Marx had desired/predicted, there was a rise in the German state and social democracy (i.e. very bureaucratic, efficient and rigid in structure) which was then copied in England, France, America, etc. This type of state lead to the creation of the middle class and more jobs. However, it also leads to greater separation between employer and employee.

Bureaucratic plans are rationalised to the public who obey due to their authority (domination and legitimacy)

1.       Traditional (family, ritual, etc. – honour & dignity)
2.       Charisma (‘magical’ powers, religion, personality, costume & ceremony)
3.       Legal-rational/bureaucratic (qualification, routine, professionalism)

4 fundamental types of social action:
1.       Instrumental-rational action – rational/useful
2.       Value-rational action – good practice
3.       Effectual-emotional  affirmation/disaffirmation – emotional
4.       Traditional orientation – society

Nietzsche

Nietzsche separates reality from what is perceived using Greek Gods Apollo and Dionysus. Apollo, a god of light, dreams, knowledge and reason, represents idealism whilst Dionysus, god of wine, madness and ecstasy, is the chaos in reality however, neither can exist without the other. Greek tragedy relied on the conflict between Apollonian and Dionysian perception to create the struggle and misfortune needed for the genre.

From the reading it is clear that, at the time of writing his book ‘Birth of Tragedy’ at least, “Nietzsche believed all people suffer, but that the Greeks (and therefore the Germans, who he considered to be the most superior race since the Greeks themselves) suffered the most.” It is interesting to consider that these two ages are amongst the most fruitful and influential in terms of philosophy however, would his opinion of this be different if he were from a different country.

Additional thoughts on Anti-Semitism

In seminar, we discussed in what way others might have thought the Jews would alter their society. To me, I couldn’t see why they were threatened – after research and discussions with a friend of mine, I came to realise that, whilst Judaism differs in some aspects such as diet, there were few differences that could dramatically change their culture as the religion suggests that only those born into the religion need to practice it. Unless you are born to a Jewish mother, you are not truly Jewish therefore there is no sense in others of the time, or even now, being worried about being converted or having their culture altered. After a long chat over facebook with my friend, we concluded that the only real and justified (in a warped sense of the word) reason for this prejudice is ignorance, which is true even in today’s society and of many other religions or cultures.

We also discussed an aspect I left out of my paper which is the way in which different people reacted to conquerors at the time. From my understanding of the reading, most civilians were happy to accept their new ruler as long as they were not made inferior (e.g. enslaved) whilst Jewish people were more concerned about protecting their practices rather than their freedom – as long as they were able to follow the rules they were given by God, they did not mind (to an extent) being made to work.  This could have lead to people resenting them as they did not stand together to protect their freedom.