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Marquis de Sade

2008-06-15T21:31:29Z

Bataille23: Removed dangling comment

Donatien Alphonse François, '''Marquis de Sade''' (1740-1814) was an infamous French [[aristocrat]] and [[author]] of heavily [[philosophical]] [[pornography]], as well as more traditional [[essays]] on [[philosophy]]. [[Sadism]], a [[paraphilia]] in which pleasure is derived from inflicting pain or seeing pain being inflicted on others, is named after him.

His books featured [[murder]], [[torture]], [[blasphemy]] and grotesque, [[violent]], and [[ritualistic]] sex. His more major works remain banned in many countries to the present day, even though some of them have been highly influential; ''Juliet'', a book released early in his career, has been imitated right up until the present, most recently by [[radical feminism|radical feminist]] [[Andrea Dworkin]].

''[[The 120 Days of Sodom]]'', perhaps his most notorious book, was written by the Marquis whilst imprisoned in the [[Bastille]], where he witnessed daily executions from his window during the [[Reign of Terror]]. The last years of his life were spent in an [[insane]] [[asylum]], though the reasons for this vary depending on the source. His years in the asylum have been dramatised in the critically-acclaimed play (and later [[film]]) [[Marat/Sade]].

His work was largely banned in the USA until the relaxation of obscenity laws in the 1950s and 1960s.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sade, Marquis de}}

[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:French People]]

Appeal to authority

2008-03-06T16:05:01Z

Bataille23: Defined the fallacy

An '''appeal to authority''' is an informal [[Logical_fallacy#Proof_by_authority|logical fallacy]]. It can be defined as the attempt to justify one's argument by referring to an "authoritative source" who holds the same belief as the arguer. These sources often include (but are not limited to) political figures, [[scientists]], [[philosophers]], and texts. It is rarely seen in academic debate, as editors and peer reviewers of journal articles routinely vet for such errors. However, in discussions of public policy issues as well as everyday human [[discourse]], the appeal to authority is one of the most common rhetorical tricks.

[[Category:Logic]]

Friedrich Nietzsche

2008-03-06T15:55:24Z

Bataille23: Removed weasel words implying a causal relationship between atheism and insanity.

[[Image:nietzsche2.jpg|right|250px|thumb]]
'''Friedrich Nietzsche''' (1844-1900) was a [[Germany|German]] [[atheism|atheist]] [[philosopher]] whose work set a foundation for the [[existentialism|existentialist]] movement of the 1900s.<ref>[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ Stanford's Biography on Nietzsche].</ref> <ref>Nietzsche later went insane, most probably due to a brain tumor. [http://wais.stanford.edu/General/general_individualsniezsche.htm]</ref>

Nietzsche was critical of religion in general, though especially [[Christianity]], which he described as the "religion of pity."<ref>[http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Friedrich_Nietzsche/ Nietzsche Quotations]</ref> Nietzsche is perhaps most famous for his declaration that “God is dead,” which, rather than a theological argument, suggests that Western culture seemed no longer rooted in Christian dogmatism and a faith-based worldview. Without God, the idea of absolutes are difficult to come by, and Nietzsche thus suggested ways for people to cope with this loss of "Good" and "Evil".

Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse in 1889, and spent the last ten years of his life unable to care for himself. During this time, his sister Elizabeth Förster-Nietzsche took over his affairs, and worked to falsify and re-edit his writings in order to support her virulent anti-Semitism (a view which Nietzsche arguably abhorred, and often mocked, during his lifetime). It was her distorted version of culled and misquoted statements which later provided an intellectual fig leaf for the Nazis and Italian Fascists.

The ''Übermensch'' (overhuman, superhuman) was a literary device used in his magnum opus, "[[Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]". The Overman was to be a new kind of being which would overcome resentment and affirm the Eternal Recurrence of the same.

The statement "God is dead" first appeared in Nietzsche's "[[The Gay Science]]", in Aphorism 108, titled "New Struggles". This aphorism introduces Nietzsche's famous Madman, who runs out into the street shouting, "God is dead!" Yet, to his dismay, the Madman sees "he has come too soon," for people have not realized this cultural revelation for themselves and are blind to it. They consider the Madman's seemingly theological claim as absurd for they misunderstand him; it is no argument about the existence of God, but a claim of how secular society has become. Nietzsche was no friend to Christian beliefs, and no doubt considered the Christian God to be a mere myth. This passage shows his hope for a philosophy of the future, one he imagined would be emptied of coarse objective rationalizing, which he characterized as God and associated with Christianity. Nietzsche, in other words, felt his message of subjective truth came too soon and hoped, as the Madman, that he would be understood someday.

Nietzsche's father Carl Ludwig Nietzsche, was a [[Lutheran]] pastor.

In his first Papal Encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" (God is Charity/Love) [[Pope Benedict XVI]] quotes from Nietzche's ''Beyond Good and Evil'', taking very seriously Nietzsche's claim that the Church has poisoned ''eros'' (love) with dogma, and responding to it.

==On Morality==
Friedrich Nietzsche argued that [[rational egalitarianism]] denies [[creativity]], and reason cannot create values and morality, attempt to do so would only lead to [[nihilism]]. Therefore morality has been imposed.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual.", "With morality, the individual can only ascribe value to himself as a function of the herd", "I submit that egoism belongs to the essence of a noble soul ... and has its basis in the primary law of things", "all morality is partisan; just as any legal system will favor certain behavior against others", "who else should we wish to serve, if not ourselves?" and "Whoever battles monsters should take care not to become a monster too, for if you stare long enough into the Abyss, the Abyss stares back into you."

==On Science and Knowledge==
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "I mistrust all systemizers and avoid them; the will to systematize is a lack of integrity", "there is no pre-established harmony between the furtherance of truth and the well-being of mankind", "the free-spirit is brought into disrepute chiefly by scholars who miss their thoroughness and ant-like industry in his art of regarding things", "there are many things I do not wish to know, wisdom sets a limit on knowledge too", "the fact that science as we practice it today is possible proves that the elementary instinct which protect life have ceased to function", "we have arranged for ourselves a world in which we are able to live with postulation of bodies, lines, surfaces, causes, and effects, motion and rest, form and content: without these articles of faith, nobody could manage to live", "the irrationality of a thing is no argument against its existence, rather a condition for it", "[too much knowledge causes us to] choke on our own reason", "creed of nihilism which I see everywhere is the result of too much learning" and "Any truth which threatens life is no truth at all, it is an error".

==On Politics==
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "As a political subject, it is an illusion to ask myself what I require from the state. In reality, it is a question of what the state requires from me", "culture and the state are antagonistic", "clearly, the individual will is forfeit to the demands of government - a kind of political Darwinism. The herd triumphs again, this time under the banner of the state", "socialism is the fantastic younger brother of an almost decrepit despotism, which it wants to succeeded", "the doctrine of free will is an invention of the ruling classes" and "madness is something rare in individuals; but in groups, parties, ages, it is the rule".

==On Women==
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "Women are essentially unpeaceful" and "Man is for woman a means; the purpose is always a child. But what is woman for man?"

==On Philosophy==
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "Philosophy is the dressing-up in rational argument of moral beliefs, intuitions and desires".

==On Religion==
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "the religious nature follows the path of self-denial" and "they honored something in themselves when they honored the saint ... self mastery and the will to power".

Thus Friedrich Nietzsche viewed [[Moses]], [[Jesus]], [[Buddha]], [[Homer]] etc, not as religious figures, but as creators of rigid moral frameworks, who lost their authority as Europe began to become secular.

==See Also==
[[nihilism]]

==References==
*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/ Entry on Nietzsche from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
*[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche-moral-political/ Entry on Nietzsche's Moral and Political Philosophy from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
*[https://www.dartmouth.edu/~fnchron/index.html Nietzsche Chronicle]
*[http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/452786.html Nietzsche: The Problem of Autumn]
*[http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=816224 "The Case for Nietzschean Moral Psychology"]
*[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html#_ftnref1 ''Deus Caritas Est'', from the Vatican website]
*[http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Nietzsche-Third-Introducing-Laurence/dp/1840466278/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5268663-4749443?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179639544&sr=1-1 Introducing Nietzsche, Third Edition by Laurence Gane]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nietzsche, Friedrich}}

[[category:German Philosophers]]

Marquis de Sade

2008-03-06T15:46:12Z

Bataille23:

Donatien Alphonse François, '''Marquis de Sade''' (1740-1814) was an infamous French [[aristocrat]] and [[author]] of heavily [[philosophical]] [[pornography]], as well as more traditional [[essays]] on [[philosophy]]. [[Sadism]], a [[paraphilia]] in which pleasure is derived from inflicting pain or seeing pain being inflicted on others, is named after him.

His books featured [[murder]], [[torture]], [[blasphemy]] and grotesque, [[violent]], and [[ritualistic]] sex. His more major works remain banned in many countries to the present day.

Perhaps his most notorious book, [[The 120 Days of Sodom]] was written by the Marquis whilst imprisoned in the [[Bastille]], where he witnessed daily executions from his window during the [[Reign of Terror]]. The last years of his life were spent in an [[insane]] [[asylum]], though the reasons for this vary depending on the source. His years in the asylum have been dramatised in the critically-acclaimed play (and later [[film]]) [[Marat/Sade]].

His work was largely banned in the USA until the relaxation of obscenity laws in the 1950s and 1960s.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sade, Marquis de}}

[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:French People]]

Marquis de Sade

2008-03-06T15:45:27Z

Bataille23: Removed irrelevant meandering

Donatien Alphonse François, '''Marquis de Sade''' (1740-1814) was an infamous French [[aristocrat]] and [[author]] of heavily [[philosophical]] [[pornography]], as well as more traditional [[essays]] on [[philosophy]]. [[Sadism]], a [[paraphilia]] in which pleasure is derived from inflicting pain or seeing pain being inflicted on another, is named after him.

His books featured [[murder]], [[torture]], [[blasphemy]] and grotesque, [[violent]], and [[ritualistic]] sex. His more major works remain banned in many countries to the present day.

Perhaps his most notorious book, [[The 120 Days of Sodom]] was written by the Marquis whilst imprisoned in the [[Bastille]], where he witnessed daily executions from his window during the [[Reign of Terror]]. The last years of his life were spent in an [[insane]] [[asylum]], though the reasons for this vary depending on the source. His years in the asylum have been dramatised in the critically-acclaimed play (and later [[film]]) [[Marat/Sade]].

His work was largely banned in the USA until the relaxation of obscenity laws in the 1950s and 1960s.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sade, Marquis de}}

[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:French People]]