The Concept of the Absurd and the Weak and Strong Cultures by Nietzsche - Essay Example

The world’s property of being the best of all possible worlds is, thus, a simple consequence of the three attributes of God: his omniscience, all-good and omnipotence. In other words, the initial belief that God is a perfect being identified the idea of Leibniz that as the perfect being God could not create the imperfect world. Group B - Absurd (Kierkegaard) The concept of absurd has a rather weighty importance in the work of Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard considers the theory of absurd in several of his works, but it occupies a special role in his work Fear and Trembling. Here, speaking from a position of criticism of Christianity, Kierkegaard considers the biblical story when Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son to Him. For Kierkegaard, this is an example of the absurdity of human existence, based on lack of freedom. Kierkegaard sees the faith of Abraham as a paradox as it is able to convert a murder into the sacred and charitable act. Kierkegaard, however, does not diminish the importance of faith. On the contrary, he emphasized that faith is transcendent and therefore is absurd. Faith in God is absurd because it cannot be explained by means of logic, however, it is effective by giving people the spiritual strength. Thus, the absurd is an inability to logically comprehend faith in God, while it is able to provide moral support. Group C Divine being (Feuerbach). Feuerbach demonstrates a critical attitude to religion, because he is convinced that it is the result of the alienation of human qualities such as kindness, compassion, etc. Religion arose when people began to ascribe to God the qualities that belong to the people. The philosopher believes that a man is in himself a divine being, and it is a man (not the transcendent God) who should be deified. Thus, in the concept of Feuerbach, a divine being is a human being who deserves to be erected on a pedestal of God. People should treat each other as if each of them is God. Thus, the interaction between people should be based on the principles of equality, justice, and mutual aid. In this respect, love also plays a particularly important role as a force that unites people. Part Two 1. What does Nietzsche mean when he states that: “the ascetic ideal springs from the protective and healing instincts of a generating life”? In his works, Nietzsche provided a strict demarcation between the weak and strong cultures, each of which has its own moral values and principles. According to the German philosopher, only weak people who represent not the florescence of life but its decline could create ascetic ideals. Their weakness does not allow them to live and breathe proclaiming their strength and ability to love themselves, other people, and life itself as a whole. Having a frail nature, they invented the ascetic ideals in order to protect themselves from the strong representatives of this world. Inability to demonstrate spiritual strength makes them suffering. As a result, the weak were forced to look for the ways to protect themselves from the world of powerful people. Ascetic ideals became the way by which the representatives of the slave morality are hoping to find at least some solace and meaning in their void life. Otherwise, they cannot do anything to eliminate their suffering caused by the awareness of their worthlessness and infirmity. Part Three Do you think that Feuerbach is correct to locate God within human being? The concept of God and the divinity assumes their transcendent and extraterrestrial status that does not allow one to agree with the idea of Feuerbach that God should be located within human being. As is known, in his critique of religion, the philosopher emphasized the need to confirm the connection between religion and the real world, because religion does not have its own content. Everything that one sees in God and divinity according to Feuerbach is a reflection of human qualities such as kindness, compassion, ability to learn, etc. Feuerbach saw the cause of peoples faith in a transcendent God in fear of the forces of nature. People are weak in front of the forces of nature. For this reason, they created God and gave him omnipotence in the hope that he can help them to survive in this world full of risk and danger. Feuerbach wanted to empower human being with a divine status because a man should not attribute his own qualities to God. What is the point if kindness, wisdom and justice primarily belong to a man, not to God? Therefore, human being must become an object of worship. In general, the logic of the arguments of the German philosopher seems to be rather convincing, but one can point out two significant objections. In particular, the concept of religion suggests a connection between the two worlds - the earthy represented by the people and the transcendent presented by God. Regardless of the reason, which caused people believe in God, one cannot consider the human being as God since the concept of God presupposes its transcendent and extraterrestrial status. In addition, God is not the result of the alienation of human qualities, but on the contrary, people are good, beautiful and wise, for the simple reason that they were created in the image and likeness of God. It remains unclear why Feuerbach ignored this aspect. Read More