Modernity and Nietzsche Essay - 1994 Words

Throughout many centuries philosophers have tried to explain the nature of reality and the order that exists within the universe around us. The purpose of this paper is to first trace the developments that led up to modernity. Next I will react to the claim made by Fredrick Nietzsche that â€Å"God is dead† from a Biblical perspective. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Philosophers have attempted to answer that question of what reality is and how to answer the questions that everyone faced. The first philosopher Thales held that water was the source of life and death. This is how the earliest philosophers explained the cycle of life and death that they saw happening all around them. Heraclitus later thought that fire was the prime element, and†¦show more content†¦nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Thomas Aquinas became the next great philosopher in Greek history, and he chose Aristotle’s philosophy as his model. Since reality functioned in the physical world, science was justified, unlike Plato and Augustine’s systems. While Aquinas did not deny the spiritual realm, he did recognize that there was a genuine reality that operated in the physical world, therefore the physical sciences had some value. According to Aquinas, God revealed Himself in physical reality; the supernatural invaded the natural. Aquinas did not create a closed system, but rather a reality that operated on a physical level according to laws, but did not except supernatural intervention. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Moving on we now reach the birth of modernity with the philosopher Francis Bacon. Bacon felt that he needed to totally disregard everything he had previously learned in order to arrive at the truth. He said that the only way to learn something was by experience. He also made an important transition in the way he formed logic. Philosophers in ancient times used inductive logic, and Bacon used deductive logic. Bacon was followed by Descartes who once ventured into a cave to find what truth really was on his own. He once said, â€Å"I think therefore, I am.† This statement sums up the entire theme of modernity. He doubted everything but the self, even the existence of God. After â€Å"discovering† the self, he concluded that since he could thinkShow MoreRelatedChristian Morality Has Become A Tale Of Shame930 Words   |  4 Pages According to Nietzsche genealogy of Christian morality has become a tale of shame – wherein the weak promote the propagation of a lie and foster a mistaken explanation for suffering. By overlooking the will to power that occurs naturally in all the people, Christianity cages, and dulls the will preventing it from expressing itself. This in turn creates problems by removing the individual’s ability to master their own life – turning them into puppets under the guidance of the government. 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