by Andreas Saugstad
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is considered as being one of the most important and original thinkers in the history of Western thought. He grew up as the son of a Lutheran pastor, and attended some of the best schools in Germany at that time. Only 25 years old, he was appointed professor in philology at the University of Basel. At the age of twenty, he wrote a poem to “the unknown God:” “I want to know you — even to serve you.”
by Andreas Saugstad
The cultural phenomenon most widespread in the world today, perhaps next after television, is popular music. Almost all places where people gather informally – buying clothes, going to a cafe or a nightclub, you will hear pop music. Song-writers such as Sting, Phil Collins, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the members of Cranberries, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and others are heard over most of the Western world, but also outside Europe and North America.
by Andreas Saugstad
The Austrian thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) is one the greatest philosophers in history. His approach to philosophy is characterized by an emphasis on language. According to Wittgenstein, philosophical problems arise because of misuse of language, and it is only when we understand everyday language that these questions may be dealt with.
Continue reading → Wittgenstein & The Priority of Everyday Language
by Andreas Saugstad
“How grimly Rogosjin had spoken that morning about ‘losing his faith’ The man must suffer terribly …Rogosjin wasn’t just a passionate soul , he was a warrior… Yes! To believe in something! In someone!” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot)
Man is a cognitive being. Some thinkers and scientists have denied this fact. Philosopher Paul Churchland claims that everything that exists is the material. In his theory, called eliminative materialism, there is no room for the mental aspect of motivation. Everything, so Churchland thinks, is material and to believe in cognitive states is an illusion that modern science can save us from. In psychology, similar theories have been constructed. Most radical is perhaps B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism.
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