Philosophy Historiography Marquis De Sade - Essay Example

Marquis De Sade argues that power, pleasure and violence are all expressions on the part of individuals or groups in search of self-realization. In other words, these must be sought and given freedom in order to achieve a sense of self and a realization of the inner-self.This assumption is problematic at best, since it suggests that things like power and violence, which are almost uniformly associated with negative things, are needed to function well and establish a sense of selfFurthermore, this assumption may hint to the fact that we as a species need to procure things such as pleasure, power and violence in sufficient levels, meaning that these are key elements or functions in are lives.

Again, their necessity is being suggested and needed for a person to form a true sense of self and separation from others.In the example of Vlad Dracula, the terrible vampire who used to suck the blood of its victims at night, all three notions of power, pleasure and violence are combined. Dracula is devoid of sympathy, love, caring feelings, but is filled with a strict sense of self. He embodies egoism and selfishness, clearly separating himself from his victims in his being superior to them.

Another example in this subject is that of the witch hunts. A few centuries ago, people started fearing people (especially women) who tended to exhibit unusual features, abilities or powers. They could be healers, women who know a rare profession or one that impressed or baffled others. Whatever the case was, these women were denounced as others, witches, evil women that desire to cause harm and evil deeds to others. Everyone who did not fit the normal standards was at risk to be deemed as such, and at a certain time, things got incredibly out of control, as hundreds and thousands of people were cast off and killed due to their different "self", for their being "other", as the community defined it.

These and other crazes in the 16th and 17th centuries (but also in other centuries) illustrate that there was a fear of others, of strangers, of people with capabilities that exceed the norm. In other words, a collective sense of self for the community was defined, and anyone who did not live up to those standards and protocols faced a terrible punishment, which was usually death. Here we see the use of violence and power the majority has over the minority, the individuals. We can see that religion has had its part in these matters.

First, religion often deals with the issues of power, violence and pleasure. Generally, Christianity (as well as other strict religions) has firm guidelines as to the needed way of conduct, how to behave, feel, etc. It denounces violence, limits and inhibits pleasure for all kinds of reasons and treats power as something which should primarily be attributed to god. If it speaks of power in human connotations, it means a persons inner power or his physical power, which are different that a divine and sublime power.

The fear of others can also be found rooted deeply into religion. Christianity, for example, says that anyone who doesnt believe in Jesus is bound to go to hell, and this is only one of the many pertinent examples that exist. Hence, religion has played a pivotal role in shaping these perceptions of selfhood and others.However, we most certainly do not have to accept Sades view of selfhood and cruelty. We must also remember that the human mind and psyche are infinitely complicated, and it is impossible to analyze them only in terms of that and so generally.

Other main things like personality, motivation, character, feeling, environment and many others shape a person and determine how he or she establishes their sense of self, and what they perceive and how they use the concepts of pleasure, violence and power in their lives. Cruelty does not necessarily take part in this, much less in the formation of the self as separated from the others.