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Summary Of On Truth And Lying In A Non Moral Sense By Nietzsche

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Nietzsche’s essay, “On Truth and Lying In A Non-Moral Sense”, challenges the overall concept of human intelligence and the conventional meanings of truth. Nietzsche begins his essay by explaining how human kind, as a whole, places itself at a higher status in comparison to any other living creature. We believe that without the existence of humans, the universe could not continue. Humorously, Nietzsche compares this idea to a midge, in which if seen from their own point of view would believe in its own importance to be as significant as humans do (172). Nietzsche then goes on to explain how little humans truly know. This led to his arguments on the overall ideas, concepts, and meanings of “truth”. Nietzsche explains that truth is something we …show more content…

His main argument lies within the universal ideas of language. Language itself is an arbitrary invention made by humans, and if humans can’t fully understand and reach the level of truth that they often believe they do, what truth is there in the words we speak? The thing about language, as discussed by Nietzsche, is that it is incredibly vague and overused. This is the whole reason as to why certain words or phrases are considered to be hackneyed and repetitive. A word can mean a single concept within a language, yet take a unique physical form in reality. Specifically, Nietzche discusses the idea of a leaf. The word “leaf” describes the general idea of a plant connected to a tree. However, if no two leaves can ever be identical, how can they then classify something to fall under the idea of what a “leaf” really is. Going back to the fact that language is merely created by humans, each human has their own perspective of reality that can only be viewed by themself. This makes the overall definition of a word obsolete. Given the example that there are two individuals, A and B, looking at a bench by which both individuals agree that the bench is painted

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Upon first read one would argue that Adolf Hitler presents a very strong argument, however, a closer examination would reveal the many false analogies used. False analogy is one of the many devices used in persuasive writing and is often used to express one’s opinion. His arguments were very descriptive and this was a ploy used to give his audience something to relate to. For instance, he used common facts and compared it to something relatable in hopes of establishing a connection. The flaw of this technique is that it lacks proof ultimately weakening the argument’s credibility.

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Nietzsche’s friend noticed Nietzsche had written much more complex writings than he used to when he wrote using a pen and paper. Carr uses this anecdote to illustrate the human mind is “infinitely malleable”. James Olds, a professor at George Mason University, says “Nerve cells routinely break old connections and form new ones. The brain has the ability to reprogram on the fly, altering the way it functions” (Carr,

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The main rhetorical tool used in Meín Kampf was ethos. The first way he used ethos was to improve his decorum and show that he was a trustworthy leader. He begins to do this on the very first page where he begins by describing his humble beginnings. He also goes into detail to show how he always believed and thought of himself as a German despite being born in Austria. He does this because he wishes to be accepted by the German public, which is the book’s target audience.

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According to Canadian philosopher Bernard Lonergan, these three mental abilities define the human spirit. Thus, the Nazis brutally challenged the very humanity of the Holocaust writers.

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He has no evidence for his statements which makes him lack credibility and he tends to leave no room for other opinions. Beyond Good and Evil is basically a detailed way to live life and by following Nietzsche's "rule-book" society will flourish forever. This book however presents more of a commanding structure. People are often being criticized by Nietzsche and he claims that without his help and guidance society could cease to exist. History proves that aristocracy governments do not work and all have eventually had a downfall.

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In the memoir Night, the narrator Wiesel recounts a moment when he was forced to watch a young boy being hang” To hanged a child in front of thousands of onlookers was not a small matter”(Wiesel 64). The cruelty of watching a kid dying in front of him was disturbing to see. As the author describes his experiences many other examples of inhumanity are revealed. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel lose of faith and the quote that Wiesel begins devout believe/disbelief of others.

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Whether it was burning novels in great bonfires throughout the night or discouraging the education of the “inferior species”, as Hitler describes, his main goal was to compute the thoughts of every German (Shirer,241).

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He strongly believes that the Aryans are supreme in social and racial position by saying that even the “Nature” proves this assertion. Hitler contends, “Every animal mates only with a member of

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He recognizes and utilizes the selfish human desire for superiority to spread his message. He is able to reach weak-minded individuals by instilling emotion into his words. Nietzsche understands the craving for

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Just as men and animals might find different things beautiful, so different truths might hold equally true for different people. Here, Zhuangzi goes beyond his initial idea–that we cannot discern truth through argumentation–and extends it to human understanding in general. As creatures limited by the prejudices inherent in our perspectives, we cannot hope to know objective, absolute truth: “Only as I know things myself do I know them.” Humans can understand only relative truths, which hold according to certain perspectives and within certain frameworks, but not absolute truth, or what Zhuangzi refers to as “The

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While all the Greek gods bare unique skills and incredible talents, Athena, Poseidon and Hephaestus are identified as the most important for humanity. The twelve gods, some more than others, are all important for humanity, but I believe Hephaestus, Poseidon and Athena are the greatest cause for a thriving civilization. Together, both Hephaestus and Athena help civilization rise up and evolve from caves to flourishing cities and Poseidon enables and protects ships as they cross his waters. Hephaestus gift to the world is neither inconceivable nor far-fetched but it is a necessity and a key component leading to a civilized and evolved society. Hephaestus is the god of metal work which includes items like armor, swords and shields, key items for wars and battles.

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