7 Bi Weekly Feedback 5th Question 1st Period

Pick one of the philosophers that we have discussed this unit. Which one is your favorite? Why?

So while this guy isn't really my favorite just for the sake of mixing it up I think I'll say that I liked Dostoevsky. While he didn't create his own philosophy, Crime and Punishment, the book he wrote that criticized and attempted to prove the illegitimacy of Nihilism, made me like him a lot because I thought Nihilism was absolutely ridiculous. People need to accept that the past is what defines us, and while we may want to move on and into a brighter future, in order to do that we must never forget the past and cannot destroy what has made us what we are. I think the fact that Dostoevsky recognized this inherent flaw in Nihilism made him a good philosopher. (Beuler)

I have serious admiration for Nietzsche since he was able to articulate an idea that most people had considered but didn’t dare to share publicly. Nietzsche called traditional morality a tool to protect the weak, and since the Medieval Ages humans have used religion and morality to give them hope and patience throughout their miserable, subsistence-level lives. Nietzsche was brave to question religion in a manner similar to Darwin’s discoveries as his insights in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Birth of Tragedy forced Europeans to consider their current role and their potential role in this world. Nietzsche picked up on the independence of the time (in fields like medicine, industry, art where we no longer let nature or fear determine progress), and dared humans to be independent by also looking inside themselves for a sense of meaning. (KatieMayo)

I agree with Katie - I admire Nietzche for the reasonable way he dealt with religion, specifically Christianity. He didn't agree with Christianity, but he recognized its functionality over the past two millennia and refrained from ridiculing it. He recognized that mankind needs something to believe in - call it what you will, he called it a myth - in order to tolerate or forget the meaningless abyss that is life. He argued that man has evolved past Christianity and is seeking a new myth. In the art and music from the era, we can see the anxiety that results from this lack of "something" to believe in. I think Nietzche expressed this search for meaning well. (Jane Wester)

I'm assuming we are responding to the next one… see y'all in # — Louis Stephens

While I certainly don’t agree with him, I found Turgenev to be the most interesting of the philosophers we studied, with his nihilistic ideas in Fathers and Sons. The idea of completely rejecting everything that the previous generation has done fits cleanly in with the new countries springing up and the unearthly technological developments of the age. This generation had surpassed anything any previous generation would’ve thought of to be possible, and it had quite the ego because of it. That is where I see nihilism and Turgenev’s ideas fitting in with this superior attitude of the generation. There was so many new things to celebrate that the old traditions only weighed down “progress,” and the way nihilism fits in and develops at this particular age is thoroughly interesting.(CarterWiles)

The philosopher that we have talked about this section that is my favorite is Dostoyevsky. I liked that he stood up against the madness pushed by Nietzsche. His book, Crime and Punishment, was a direct rebuttal of both Nietzsche and the closely related Nihilists. I respect him for having a clear and logical head at a time when it would have been easy to simply renounce everything, like so many others had done. Also, my appreciation for him stems from my dislike for Nietzsche. Nietzsche’s philosophy is counterintuitive for me and I won’t accept it. (Matt Borin)