Nietzsche
Defining Truth
Perhaps one of the reasons it is so difficult to understand the obsession of Nietzsche and Plato with 'Truth' is that few people today believe in the existence of Truth with a capital 'T' that transcends time and subjective, personal impressions. We are exposed to so many different cultures and belief systems, and are encouraged to tolerate other points-of-view rather than assert our own definition of the Truth. We know how much our own perceptions of the truth can be influenced by the media and by advertising. Of course, the "Allegory of the Cave" suggests that much of what we humans apprehend with our senses is false, unlike the pure world of truth that exists beyond the cave. But if we can be so easily tricked in the cave -- why should we be so certain of this pure, true world that transcends time at all?
For Nietzsche, God was dead, and that was unalterably true. Faith-based debates were polarized about the existence of God when he wrote, and he wrote in a largely Christian context, although he abhorred Christianity and wrote his philosophy in reaction against its precepts. But even many devout believers in America today state that we all worship the same God, and thus participate in the same 'truth' regardless of our affiliation. Even atheists validate the feeling of believers and state that although science is factually true, the human mind and faith has its own truth that can emotionally and psychologically move mountains. In other words, there are different kinds of truths -- truths that can be proven with a scientific experiment and emotional truths that are subjective in nature (like true love and true friendship).
Of course, some philosophers suggested that different types of truths have more solid truth claims than others, even in the past. But few people have radically questioned the ability to know the truth on every level as much as we do today. In fact, maybe the word 'truth' is not a good word for what we are seeking, when we try not to be deceived. What we are really seeking is personal honesty and clear observation of certain fact patterns in science, not what Plato or Nietzsche would call truth.
Two belief systems, then -- true believe, and justified true belief (Hauser, 1992). Humans, however, according to Pierce, turn justified true beliefs into true beliefs by converting them into axioms. Once we have proven something there is no need to prove it again, and we use the part that was proven before to further extend our study and the inquisition of knowledge. And so it becomes necessary to accept things
Foremost, though, is the Nietzschian concept that freedom is never free -- there are costs; personal, societal, and spiritual. To continue that sense of freedom, one must be constantly vigilant and in danger of losing that freedom, for the moment the individual gasps a sigh of relief and feels "free" from contemplating freedom, tyranny will ensue. He believed that it was the internal cost that contained value. This, however,
He also did not consider that the attribution of goodness or perfection was not exclusive to early nobles, the Roman warrior, the Greek artist or the Jewish priest who trusted in a Messiah. Common people and slaves always held their own beliefs in what is true and good and by their own ethical codes, believed that observing them would justify their actions and choices. What went into historical records
But the progress of philosophy in Nietzsche's modern age and the progress of science has actually denied the mystery of God and helped create an atheistic period. In such a period where the effort of philosophy is strongly empirical, the soul also has been sacrificed. But because it has been sacrificed, in a way the sacrifice renews religion. People sacrifice themselves to God. This can be seen in the
Progress of History: Hegel, Nietzsche and Heidegger For Hegel, the idea of the progress of history was tied to his immersion in the world of Enlightenment and Romantic writers and thinkers. He lived at a time when the French Revolution occurred and reshaped the direction of history. The Revolution expressed and institutionalized new ideas about Reason (literally deified by the Revolution) as well as socio-political philosophy regarding fraternity, equality and liberty.
C. Only fragments of these works, which include two letters and four speeches, survive (Sallust). In the Preface to the Second Impression, John C. Rolfe (May 15, 1928) purports: The part of the Introduction dealing with the manuscripts has been re-written in the light of the new classification of Axel W. Ahlberg (Prolegomena in Sallustium, Gteborg, 1911), which was followed by him in his Teubner text (Leipzig, 1919) and, except in some
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now