Cyril Nadar week 4 - Modern Identity
Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most famous and influential philosophers in history. His philosophies on identity are deeply rooted in our modern interpretation of identity.
Nietzsche was born in 1844 and died in 1900. During that time, the world was deeply rooted in religion and many people built their identity around religion. His famous quote, “God is Dead” is an observation that religion was starting to have less of an impact on modern society. This philosophy can be seen even now as Science has taken a more prominent role in our society. Religion now lacks the same amount of influence on people's identity as it did before. He does not however celebrate the rise of atheism but simply explains that without the role of religion in a person's identity they are able to grow and reflect and have their own individual will however he also warns that without the guidance of religion people may fall to nihilism
Going back to the idea of the impact of religion on identity, people also believe that societal status and family also shape your identity. Nietzsche rejected that. His famous line “Become who you are” is what we mostly interpret as an identity. Our experiences reflect upon our identity.
It is fascinating to think that many people really do not know about Nietzsche's influence on the modern world. We usually think that identity is a reflection of oneself through experiences and appreciation, however that is a very modern way of thinking. His influence can also be seen in LGBTQ+ movements which emphasize authenticity and self-identity.
Nietzsche was basically a revolutionary for his time. Not many people spoke against religion for its prominence in European culture however he still did. He spoke his mind about the topics he discussed which reflects his philosophy on identities on how people need to grow from their experiences and not from religion and social status.
After hearing your description of Nietzsche I realized that people back then continue to have the same core thoughts that we see today, just masked under different causes. You focus on how Nietzsche often focuses on people's dependence on religion and how deep rooted religious ideologies have blurred the line between belief and identity. Similar things happen today regarding law and people's independence from government law. I feel that if Nietzsche, if he were still alive, would make an effort to advocate for people's rights as an individual and even though he is not here now we should follow in his footsteps as we continue to navigate throughout the world. I also noticed you mentioned the term nihilism. Upon further research I have learned that nihilism is the belief that life has no certain purpose and all religious and social values are essentially baseless. Though it is a controversial topic I believe it is valid to think about as we, as humans, do not know for sure what makes up the entire universe. What's your opinion on this, do you believe that nihilism is a well grounded ideology or do you disagree with it?
ReplyDeleteIt was quite interesting to learn about how the impact of religion started to wane, and even become nonexistent for some individuals. When you learn about the history of the world, so much was rooted around religion, from the way that people thought about certain topics, to the way that they acted in their day to day lives. They had a societal normal, and when someone went against that normal, that individual was viewed differently. Nietzsche seems to be one of those people, breaking the rigid barriers of religion, and establishing his own thoughts. This makes me wonder if others at this time may have felt the same way, but were just too scared to speak out. Nietzsche and the revolution that he created might have made those people feel validated in their stance on religion, and even encouraged them to speak up about their beliefs. Religion was once seen as everything, and one religion was considered good or bad in certain times in certain areas. It's good to know that there was one more person that was brave enough to speak against the "normal" view in society during the 1800s.
ReplyDeleteHi, Cyril. I would have to disagree with your claim that “religion now lacks the same amount of influence on people’s identity as it did before.” I think that in the past couple years, it has become much more a part of people’s identity, especially in radicalized religion. Religion (specifically religious fundamentalism) has historically been used to justify and even cause extreme violence and human rights suppression. Some examples: In Afghanistan with the Taliban claiming to enforce the strict interpretation of Islam which has been used to justify harsh punishments and violence. Globally with Al Qaeda “defending” Islam from the West, leading to a plethora of attacks, including 9/11. The Israeli government is literally committing genocide in Gaza, partially because God promised the land of Israel to Jews in the Bible. And(!), Evangelical Christian Zionists are even justifying the genocide solely on the basis that Israel is the Holy Land. There are (literally) hundreds of other examples of this; I won’t just go on an (even longer) rant. In no way am I critiquing religion because it can be such a pure and beautiful thing, and I think it’s supposed to be; but, clearly extremist groups identity is heavily based on their religious interpretations. Even in our government, conservative and (predominantly) Republican Christians ideologies have been becoming more and more interchangeable (even though this goes against the constitutionally secular United States). This is all being used to legally justify racism, homophobia, Zionism, censorship, alienation, etc., which is all the opposite of what Nietzsche stood for. And (through my interpretation), these actions defy the word of an all loving God. Once again, this is not an “anti religion” or attacking comment in any way and (once again) I think religion can be extremely beneficial and agree that “without the guidance of religion people may fall to nihilism.” I just think that religion can and does deeply influence self identity since the beginning of human kind and will until the end of humankind.
ReplyDelete