Martin Heidegger

Instead of revolutions, much of their reforms came from “above” – from the ruling class. They did not have a party system. The fellowship of being German was depicted in the photograph of Suddeutcher Verlag at the beginning of the World War I in Munich. Germans were very proud to belong to this nation. A particular class of the German people that strongly contributed to the Sonderweg theory were the “elites”. The control of the elites stood in the way of liberal democratization and a truly representative government. The elites included the Junkers, the large agrarian landowners who possessed much power and influence because of their wealth.

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” Lets go back to when men valued thought, for they valued its effect on the world, lets go back and take a look at the father of Christian Existentialism, Søren Kierkegaard. Søren Kierkegaard was born to a father who inflicted strict and rigorous religious teaching upon his children. His father felt this was necessary because of his sinful habit that resulted in an affair with his 1st wife’s maid. Kierkegaard, after a broken engagement with his love, was handed over to a life of severe melancholy. Yet as a result of both his personal pain and brilliant mind, a literary life few could surpass, and wisdom of thought (does that make sense) ensued.

In life, everyone is searching for something. Some people search for things like money, love, power, and fame while others are just simply searching for themselves. Published in 1919, Hermann Hesse’s, Demian, tells the story of an older man’s reflection on his childhood. Throughout the novel, main character Emil Sinclair struggles to find a purpose and meaning for his life. He faces many difficulties in an attempt to find himself. This is a novel of self-discovery and the pursuit of happiness. Because Hesse displays a power struggle between two elements of binaries, the binaries mirror the struggles that Sinclair faces and his final acceptance of this.

“Where is the glory in doing something that others have done” (Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief). A quote befitting of the character Beowulf who slew the abomination known as Grendel to save the people of Heorot, then killing his vengeful mother using the sword Hrunting and finally as his last legendary exploit he brought down a mighty dragon to save his kingdom, the most prominent definition of an epic hero and the epitome of what the ideal Scandinavian hero is. On the surface, this may seem like Beowulf is a selfless hero willing to go to great lengths to save the people around him but after deeper analysis of the story, it may be that Beowulf’s pride and search for glory is what truly drives him.

In his work “Into The Wild”, Jon Krakauer writes about a young man who escaped on an expedition to invent a new life for himself. However, the reasons why he decides to partake on such journey raises many questions because Christopher McCandless lives a life of valuable possessions which his rejection of his economic class to disperse in a cultural background of nature steers Krakauer decision to report his story. Krakauer believes that a young man with a great amount of opportunities must have a logical reasons to abandon all the achievements and most importantly his family to live in the Wilderness. Although, Krakauer intends to portray McCandless as a genius of his choices and ethical to his ideas, as the book unfolds Krakauer

Adolf Hitler gained chancellorship in January 1933, transforming the political ideology of the Weimar Republic to a one-party, totalitarian dictatorship – Nazi Germany. Richard Wagner; born on May 22, 1813, died February 13, 1883 – six years before Adolf Hitler’s birth – was a German composer known for his operas and “music dramas.” Adolf Hitler was first introduced to Richard Wagner’s works at the age of twelve, observing one of Wagner’s operas; Lohengrin. Hitler wrote how “At the age of twelve, I saw … the first opera of my life, Lohengrin. In one instant I was addicted.” After being denied enrollment in the Academy of Fine Arts, Hitler joined the Austrian military service in 1914 – serving in the army when World War I broke out. After Germany’s defeat, Hitler began political work in 1919, joining the German Worker’s Party. In 1920, he was in charge of the propaganda, devoting himself to advancing his position in the party. Renamed as the National-sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei – Nazis, resentment at the loss of World War I and economic losses caused discontent within the party.

Have you ever wondered what it took to be a hero? Elie Wiesel is an example of how you can be one. Wiesel wrote many books to spread the misfortune of the Holocaust. He also taught humanities at Boston University. Before he died he had the honor of being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, in his efforts to void the world of hate and violence. He impacted the world by keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive but omitting the idea of it. In the end, he helped many see the importance of uniting to overcome something so evil.

Rousseau believes that even when one votes in the minority they can obey the law and still be free. But, “how can the opposing minority be both free and subject to laws to which they have not consented?” (Rousseau, pg. 153) Rousseau’s response is that citizens must consent to all the laws because “ to inhabit the territory is to submit to the sovereign.”(Rousseau, p.153) In accordance with the social contract, when a citizen votes they should completely surrender their personal interest and vote for what they believe to be the general will. The general will of each individual is considered to be their real will when it comes to social policy. The majority vote will depict the general will, and the

On the evening of May 10, most university towns, right- wing students marched in torchlight parades “against un- German spirit”. Montag showed this because he went into his wife’s friendship gathering to state his case on what they needed to know about books/ education in general. When resolutions are made, consequences occur due to people having differents outlooks on

A man once said, “Technology without hatred can be a blessing. Technology with hatred is always a disaster” (Simon Wiesenthal). Simon is trying to say that social media with hatred is not as enjoyable to use, where as without hatred it can be resourceful and fun. I agree with this quote because cyber bullying is nothing to joke about. It can cause death and Simon really speaks out when using this quote in his writing. Simon Wiesenthal is an author who was born on December 31, 1908 in Buczacz, Galicia. Simon died on September 20, 2005. The man lived a rough but eventful life, says his spouse Cyla Muller, who died in 2003. Simons father died in World War 1 as a part of the Austrian Army. Simon was slashed and permanently scarred with a saber

Over the course of history, people have sacrificed themselves for a greater purpose, which offered them no personal gain other than the fact that they did the right thing to improve the world around them. In his "The Future of

Topic #1 Jean-Jacques Rousseau makes the provocative claim that the transfer of sovereignty involves in the election of representatives signifies a loss of freedom: "The instant a people chooses representatives, it is no longer free." (On the Social Contract, p.103) Do you agree with Rousseau?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Friedrich Nietzsche are both prominent figures of Modern Political thought even though they lived more than a hundred years apart from each other. Rousseau and Nietzsche tend to differ from each other in terms of their views on what we now call “globalization”.

His actions were good, not just because they were intended to be good for the whole society, but because society viewed them as being for the good.

If God is good and if creation reveals his goodness, why do nature’s victims suffer? Is God dead? These are the questions that the two essays from Stephen Jay Gould and Friedrich Nietzsche ask and attempt to answer. Stephen Jay Gould was a well-known professor of geology, zoology and curator of invertebrate paleontology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Gould feels that animals are too complex to be compared to humans and deciding what is good and evil. Friedrich Nietzsche was one of the most influential German philosophers. Nietzsche feels as though God is dead and the commitment to religion is contradicting instincts of nature.