Hello
I'm studying Nietzsche and Heidegger amongst other philosophers for A level philosophy (lol) and need some points cleared up. It's a Sunday and school is closed so I cannot hunt down my lecturers but my mind is BRISTLING for knowledge
- If Nietzsche goes on to deny nihilism/teach us to overcome it, why does he base his philosophy on nihilism in the first place? Is it coming from the notion that Christianity is life-denying and that therefore it is the only conclusion that nihilism is the case a priori? Or am I missing something?
- My lecturer told us that Heidegger says that humans are merely language machines, and that "language is spoken through us" - that language is not a man-made thing and has always been there, and we are simply machines with the purpose of formulating grammatically correct sentences, and we do not convey any meaning when speaking a sentence. I had difficulty understanding this at first but I tried coming up with a sort of allegory to perhaps help me understand this:
Taking the example of a drummer playing the drums. Each tom, snare, cymbal, etc, is already there on his drumkit. Furthermore, the sound each piece makes is already defined by the physical properties of each piece on the kit. The sound is already there, it is not man-made per se. The drummer therefore is not making the sound. The drummer is simply a means through which the sound is conveyed. The drummer simply acts as a machine that formulates these pre-defined sounds such that they end up sounding good.
Does this example/allegory make sense or am I off by a longshot? If so, I could really do with some clarification on what Heidegger meant by all this.
Thank you in advance to whoever can help me out :)
(paging InternetIntellectual)
Hello
I'm studying Nietzsche and Heidegger amongst other philosophers for A level philosophy (lol) and need some points cleared up. It's a Sunday and school is closed so I cannot hunt down my lecturers but my mind is BRISTLING for knowledge
[olist]
[*] If Nietzsche goes on to deny nihilism/teach us to overcome it, why does he base his philosophy on nihilism in the first place? Is it coming from the notion that Christianity is life-denying and that therefore it is the only conclusion that nihilism is the case [i]a priori[/i]? Or am I missing something?
[*] My lecturer told us that Heidegger says that humans are merely language machines, and that "language is spoken through us" - that language is not a man-made thing and has always been there, and we are simply machines with the purpose of formulating grammatically correct sentences, and we do not convey any meaning when speaking a sentence. I had difficulty understanding this at first but I tried coming up with a sort of allegory to perhaps help me understand this:
Taking the example of a drummer playing the drums. Each tom, snare, cymbal, etc, is already there on his drumkit. Furthermore, the sound each piece makes is already defined by the physical properties of each piece on the kit. The sound is already there, it is not man-made [i]per se[/i]. The drummer therefore is not making the sound. The drummer is simply a means through which the sound is conveyed. The drummer simply acts as a machine that formulates these pre-defined sounds such that they end up sounding good.
Does this example/allegory make sense or am I off by a longshot? If so, I could really do with some clarification on what Heidegger meant by all this.
[/olist]
Thank you in advance to whoever can help me out :)
(paging InternetIntellectual)
Yes this is the correct place to ask
Yes this is the correct place to ask
call your teacher right now
call your teacher right now
https://www.reddit.com/r/philosophy/
I resent that. I think this is interesting.
Anyway I'm an anthro major but I am studied in some philosophy. I also studied both in english, not german so some language barrier pains. Hope it's cool.
1. Nietzche believes that our reality is reflected in our perspectives. If you cannot see meaning in the world, then there must be no meaning to it. It's your agency that gives the world meaning. You should seek meaning for yourself though, because if meaning is only attained by your perception of meaning, then by default there is no meaning until you decide there is. He is both a nihilist and not by this logic.
2. I'm less studied with Heidegger but from what I remember, without language, there would be no way to define anything in his mind. And because you cannot define it, it becomes impossible to prove its existence. Language speaks man. You exist because language existed to define you. A lot of people conventionally disagree with this, but it's a curious thought. You would have to imagine what it would be like to not have any type of linguistic symbol applied to your existence. I liken it to Eldritch horrors of Lovecraftian lore honestly but a step further. Not only was the thing indescribable, but also no language existed to describe it to begin with. Your consciousness would not even be conscious to comprehend it.
I resent that. I think this is interesting.
Anyway I'm an anthro major but I am studied in some philosophy. I also studied both in english, not german so some language barrier pains. Hope it's cool.
1. Nietzche believes that our reality is reflected in our perspectives. If you cannot see meaning in the world, then there must be no meaning to it. It's your agency that gives the world meaning. You should seek meaning for yourself though, because if meaning is only attained by your perception of meaning, then by default there is no meaning until you decide there is. He is both a nihilist and not by this logic.
2. I'm less studied with Heidegger but from what I remember, without language, there would be no way to define anything in his mind. And because you cannot define it, it becomes impossible to prove its existence. Language speaks man. You exist because language existed to define you. A lot of people conventionally disagree with this, but it's a curious thought. You would have to imagine what it would be like to not have any type of linguistic symbol applied to your existence. I liken it to Eldritch horrors of Lovecraftian lore honestly but a step further. Not only was the thing indescribable, but also no language existed to describe it to begin with. Your consciousness would not even be conscious to comprehend it.
deykuzor
Very good explanation on the Nietzsche question, and whilst I feel like I have an understanding of the point you made when explaining Heidegger, I don't feel like it actually answers my question of "what did he mean by saying that language is spoken through us?" Though maybe I understand it less than I think I do?
[quote=deykuzor][/quote]
Very good explanation on the Nietzsche question, and whilst I feel like I have an understanding of the point you made when explaining Heidegger, I don't feel like it actually answers my question of "what did he mean by saying that language is spoken through us?" Though maybe I understand it less than I think I do?
wow, aphex twin, now heidegger... you're very cool...
wow, aphex twin, now heidegger... you're very cool...
nietzsche changed over time and youll wanna be careful trying to systemize all the stuff he said because some of it is contradictory
anyway looks like the SEP still exists which is what i used to pass all my classes in college so go for it https://plato.stanford.edu/
nietzsche changed over time and youll wanna be careful trying to systemize all the stuff he said because some of it is contradictory
anyway looks like the SEP still exists which is what i used to pass all my classes in college so go for it https://plato.stanford.edu/
fooqpwow, aphex twin, now heidegger... you're very cool...
Not to mention ultiduo
[quote=fooqp]wow, aphex twin, now heidegger... you're very cool...[/quote]
Not to mention ultiduo
you're wrong about all of your points. don't ask for clarification
you're wrong about all of your points. don't ask for clarification