The Phenomenology of Spirit - Essay Example

Q1.

GFW Hegel in his article, “The Phenomenology of Spirit,” tries to throw some light on the importance of history for human beings. He begins his arguments by comparing human beings and animals and goes on to assert that animals are more happy than human beings because they live ‘unhistorically.’ They do not give any importance to history and, therefore, do not have memories of events that can haunt them and make them unhappy (p 61). He goes on to assert that all major happenings in the world have been encouraged by a state of conscience in which the doer was oblivious to his or her past and was concerned only about the future. This ‘selective selfishness’, as the author calls it, is the essence of all great things that have happened in the world. The author also talks in detail about what he calls historical men, men who take history as the basis of their future actions (p 65). The author debates that history should not be treated as pure science and that it is neither a source of pure knowledge. Hence, he concedes to the theory that it can merely be used as a reference to take life forward. While a total lack of history and too much of history are both derogatory, it is essential that human beings take the middle path and recognize its relevance in human life. According to the author, man should be able to selectively switch off and on his awareness and reverence for the past and must not fall prey to delusions provided by historical anecdotes.

Q1. How can history help us to deal with modern issues in life?

Q2. What are the differences between a person who reveres history completely and one who does not revere it at all?

Q3.How is history different from pure science and how can we derive pure knowledge that is applicable to the will from it?

Q2.

In "On the Uses and Disadvantage of History for Life", Friedrich Nietzsche, analyses the importance of history in guiding the modern generations. He lays out a path, a dogma, that is to be followed by all those who are desirous of attaining enlightenment in their lives. For example, he says that history that speaks of the past and provides nothing new does not invigorate the mind (p 113). On the contrary, history shows its heroes and heroines as those who questioned a dogma is to be followed if we are to make any sense of history and the future. Hence, Friedrich Nietzsche tells us that we need to be pathfinders in a world that is dominated by historical data that could be biased and one-sided and does not take into consideration information that has many perspectives to it. History, further can be conceived as a biased fabrication of an individual or a group of persons for furthering some rested interests. We have seen instances where historical information which were believed to have been facts, had been challenged later on. Nietzsche, in particular, criticizes the attitude of historians to bud the creativity and imagination of the youth who have the potential to think independently and freely. Historians, as a lot, are bent upon robbing this mental freedom from individuals and tuning them to be pawns of a bigger offensive that seeks to make morons out of people by nipping their creativity in the bud.

Q1. How should the youth accept and interpret history?

Q2. How can a generation lost in the complexities of history be redeemed?

Q3. What are the roles of education and free will in enjoying and correctly interpreting history?

Q3.

In A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze & Guattari, try to drive home their point in a rather complicated manner. They speak many ideas whose elements have been selected from different and seemingly unrelated branches of sciences such as biology and mechanics to underline their points n machines and assemblages (p 368). The authors later turn their attention to classicism and romanticism to explain the various consistencies of the human mind.

Q4.

Judith Butler, in The Psychic Life of Power, tries to explain the subtle balance between power, its abuse, and subordination. The author tries to establish that the abuse of power is not an isolated occurrence. It can happen only if the subject on whom the power is being abused has agreed to play the subordinate role. Hence, the author suggests that abuse of power is not the most important aspect, but it is the subordination of an individual and the exploitation of the individual that causes undesirable effects in human relations. The author supports her views when she says that power that is assumed cannot exist for long and will take a different form and direction later. However, the power that is bestowed by the subordinates lasts. This sense of power is extended when one thinks about oneself objectively and tries to analyze one’s position subjectively.

Q1. How is power recognized

Q2 Explain the delicate balance between power and subjugation

Q3 How does power play express itself in sexual relations?