Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Problems with society:

•Too much emphasis is being placed on reason, democracy, progress, wisdom

•Christianity glorifies obedience (it has a slave mentality

•Famous quote: “God is dead” (and Christians killed him because they no longer truly believe

Solution:

•Accept the meaninglessness of existence (though only a few very strong “supermen” will be able to do this). They will recapture their personal integrity and should therefore lead socity

Influence:

•People see him as being an important critic of imperial Germany.

Caveat:

•Mentally, Nietzsche has a tenuous hold on reality

Split in Philosophical Movements after World War I

Logical Empiricism/

Logical Positivism

Existentialism

Logical Empiricism/Logical Positivism

• Traditional philosophy (studying issues like the existence of God or the meaning of happiness) is nonsense because these ideas cannot be scientifically or mathematically proven

• Famous practitioner: Ludwig Wittgenstein

Existentialism

Loose affiliation of diverse thinkers emphasizing– Anguish of human existence– Frailty of human reason– Fragility of human institutions– Need to reassert and redefine human

freedomDominated philosophy on the ContinentFamous practitioners: Jean-Paul Sartre and

Albert Camus

Jean-Paul Sartre• Atheist who believed that God did not give

meaning to life• Believed that people just “turn up” and then

seek to define themselves. • Human beings are terribly alone and depressed

(there is no God with them). • The only way humans can overcome life’s

absurdity is to take action and define oneself through choices (conscious decisions) that are consistent with their responsibility for their own behavior.

Albert Camus

• Another existentialist who believed humanity grows out of courage and perseverance at a hopeless and absurd task

Christian Existentialists

Theologians who turned back to fundamentalist Christianity (away from trying to explain religion with science) as a way to deal with the difficulties of the world.

Inspiration: Soren Kiekegaard

Famous Practitioners: Karl Barth and Gabriel Marcel