Access over 20 million homework & study documents

Twilight of the idols chapter summaries

Content type
User Generated
Rating
Showing Page:
1/8
Twilight of the Idols Chapter Summaries
Foreword
Introduces the body of the text briefly and ambiguously
‘a sidestep into a psychological idleness’ p3
Asks us to clear our mind, start reading blankly
Leave behind our psychological influences, assumptions
He guides s a voice inside our heads
Challenging book
Quickly goes over major ideas and concepts that in other works explained in more detail
Written quite late in his life 1888, one of his last books
The repetition
Neitche and Rousseou are similar, he shows us a picture of oursleevs, and our history but in
a way it is not what we think, we have not progressed
N similarly gives us a picture of where we are now, doing it in a way to suggest that we are
not in a good place
We are use our primitive instincts to navigate through life
The concepts, beliefs, religion is into doing us good
Calling for a return to nature, in some sense that nature is better than civilisation
N does acknowledge we can never go back, we may desire to go back
He does think we can go to a more natural state perhaps not the earliest state
Seeks to investigate how human nature ought to be
He does not like Rosseau’s philosophy?
Socratic methods have had influenced on western philosophical thought
Could Socrates be one of those idols?
Epigrams and Arrows
Stucture
Numbered, smaller sentences than the rest of the text
A way of easing us into the text
From the title of the chapter, it would be assumed there is direction
That there is a destination
But perhaps that’s on purpose, do not expect direction because that is not the purpose of
the book
The metaphorical arrows go in different directions, he talks about women in one part then
goes back a few number later
Sometimes the arrows, or the numbers cross paths
‘idleness is the start of all psychology’ p5
Our mind is empty till we are praised, disciplined, told what is right or wrong
It is before our moral compass becomes shaped
‘wisdom sets limits even to knowledge’ p5
What constitutes to wisdom? Is it not a universal term for knowledge? Can we ever know
too much or too little, when is it useful/useless? Is wisdom the application of knowledge?
‘Is humanity just God’s mistake?’
If this is true, would this be behind the reason that there is no universal application that suits
all societies

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/8
‘What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger?’ p6
Is life just about character building, no concrete reasosn why atrocities, disappointments
happen
‘Man created woman – but out of what? Out of a rib of his God on his “ideal”’
Patriarchy rules yet a man is seen as ideal then why is homosexual relationships
condemned?
‘If a woman has masculine virtues, its enough to make you run away from her; and if she has
no masculine virtues, away she runs herself’ p9
Societal expectations limit women
‘Are you one who looks on? Or one who lends a hand? – Or one who looks away, turns
aside… Third question of conscience’
‘Do you want to go along? Or go ahead? Or go on your own?’
‘formula for my happiness: a yes, or no, a straight line, a goal…’ p11
The Problem of Socrates
Has become or is idolised in the philosophy realm, seen as a revolutionary figure
How easy is it to influence a group of people, becomes an opinion leader
Even Socrates said, as he died “Living – that means being sick a long time. I owe a rooster to
the saviour Asclepius.” Even Socrates had enough – What does that demonstrate? What
does that indicate?’ p12 A = ‘god of medicine’
‘learned and unlearned prejudice’ p12
‘I recognized Socrates and Plato as symptoms of decay; as instruments of the Greek
dissolution, as pseudo-greek, as anti-Greek’
‘psysiolohical agreement’ ‘same negative stance toward life’
‘philosophers see a problem in the value of life’
Calls Socrates ‘the lowest folk’ and ‘ugly’
‘forensic anthropologists tell us that the typical criminal is ugly… byt the criminal is a
decadent. Was Socrates a typical criminal?
Strategic, arguably lacks or has emotional intelligence, trickery
‘everything about him is exaggerated, buffalo [comical] a caricature; at the same time,
everything is covert, reticent, subterranean’ p14
‘Socratic equation: reason = virtue = happiness the most bizarre equation that there is’ p14
‘Socrates was the clown that got people to take him seriously: what really happened there?
‘Is Socrates’ irony an expression of revolt… he infuriates, and at the same time he paralyzes.
The dialectician disempowers the intellect of his opponent. What? Is dialectic just a form
of revenge in Socrates’ 15
‘master for the noble circles of Athens’ ‘wasn’t exceptional’ 15
‘Socrates understood that all the world has need of him’ p15
‘the great ironist’ p16
‘How did Socrates become master of himself’ p16
‘Socartes nor his ‘sick patients’ were rational by free choice – it was de rigueur, it was their
last resort… either to be destroyed, or – to be absurdly rational’
‘the moralism of the Greek philosophers from Plato onward is the result of pathological
condition; likewise their admiration for dialectic’
‘Socrates was fascinating: he seemed to be a doctor, a savior p16
‘escape is beyond their strength’

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/8

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
End of Preview - Want to read all 8 pages?
Access Now
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Twilight of the Idols Chapter Summaries Foreword                     Introduces the body of the text briefly and ambiguously ‘a sidestep into a psychological idleness’ p3 Asks us to clear our mind, start reading blankly Leave behind our psychological influences, assumptions He guides s a voice inside our heads Challenging book Quickly goes over major ideas and concepts that in other works explained in more detail Written quite late in his life 1888, one of his last books The repetition Neitche and Rousseou are similar, he shows us a picture of oursleevs, and our history but in a way it is not what we think, we have not progressed N similarly gives us a picture of where we are now, doing it in a way to suggest that we are not in a good place We are use our primitive instincts to navigate through life The concepts, beliefs, religion is into doing us good Calling for a return to nature, in some sense that nature is better than civilisation N does acknowledge we can never go back, we may desire to go back He does think we can go to a more natural state perhaps not the earliest state Seeks to investigate how human nature ought to be He does not like Rosseau’s philosophy? Socratic methods have had influenced on western philosophical thought Could Socrates be one of those idols? Epigrams and Arrows                Stucture Numbered, smaller sentences than the rest of the ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
I was struggling with this subject, and this helped me a ton!

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4

Similar Documents