Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Philosophy and ethics for Baccalaureate

Influences on Nietzsche's Philosophy

Nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, born in Saxony, received a large number of influences. These were based on the classical Greek world during an early stage, and various philosophers of the modern age in the second stage of his thought.

His engagement with ancient Greece focuses on the tension between the Dionysian and Apollonian worldviews. He strongly denied the influence of Socrates and Plato, but accepted Heraclitus, taking from him the claim of the existence of contradiction and movement, and studies on change and opposition.

In his first phase, the influence of the Sophists, Stoicism, and early Christianity can also be observed.

In the second phase, we find a strong impact from Enlightenment...

Aristotle and Teleological Ethics (Eudaemonism)

Aristotle (384–322 BC) is the main representative of teleological ethics. According to this philosopher, all human activities seek to achieve a particular, immediate good that is also a means to a higher, better end. The ultimate goal toward which all our actions are directed, and the greatest good to which humans can aspire, is the pursuit of happiness.

The Concept of Eudaemonism

In Greek, this happiness is called eudaimonia, which is why Aristotelian ethics is also known as eudaemonism.

Happiness as the Supreme Good

If happiness is the end aimed at by the individual, this means it must be a supreme good—a good thing always and without exception. Moreover, as the ultimate end, happiness must have...

Fuenteovejuna: A New Comedy

Fuenteovejuna features new comedy elements:

• Metric: Written in verse, using the lope stanza, adjusting the rate of speech. Tenths are suitable for expressing complaints, sonnets for serious matters, and ballads sound better when spoken by pastors or laborers.
• Structure: The play is divided into 5 acts, but the new comedy favors a division into 3 acts (approach, development, and outcome). Short, humorous interludes and festive parties occur between acts and at the play's end.
• Purpose: The play aims to please the audience with vulgar humor, prioritizing entertainment above all else.
• Genre: Classic plays clearly distinguish between social classes. Tragedy typically features plebeian characters experiencing humorous or visible

Theme 2: Science and Other Forms of Human Knowledge

1. Science

One characteristic that distinguishes humans from other living beings is our natural curiosity to wonder about the world in which we live and about our human nature.

To satisfy this curiosity, there have been ways of knowing, understanding, explaining, and interpreting the world and human existence. One way is through philosophy.

Another is through science, which seeks to know reality, find the causes of observed phenomena, establish universally valid concepts, and demonstrate rational arguments. Science provides knowledge about the universe.

1.1 The Scientific Explanation: A Brief History

Science has not always been the same. There have been three main models of scientific paradigms:...

Nietzsche's Philosophy: The Will to Power and the Dionysian Spirit

For Friedrich Nietzsche, the Will to Power is fundamentally expressed through the Dionysian spirit of humanity. He argues that a crucial balance must be maintained between this instinct and its counterpart (the Apollonian, though not explicitly named here, is implied by the need for balance). Following the ancient Greeks, Nietzsche believed that the profound thinking of the body has been largely overlooked in Western culture. Unlike Western thought, the Greeks never despised the body; they understood it as a mere discipline of feelings and drives, not something to be suppressed or ignored.

Nihilism: From Decadence to Affirmation

Nietzsche's concept of nihilism describes a world...

The Political Philosophy of Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli, the foremost political thinker of the Renaissance, inaugurated modern political science by dealing with the practical affairs of the state. He was a hands-on politician, more interested in intervening in the governance of his state than in abstract theorizing. However, he knew that any goal-oriented action must be guided by theoretical principles.

These principles are outlined in his two most famous works, The Prince and Discourses on Livy, which serve as a guide for rulers. This approach posits that the ultimate goal of politics is to preserve the unity and identity of the community. The general rule is that every city tends toward the degeneration and corruption of its institutions...

Thesis of the eternal return as a sign of vitality. This conception of time is to accept that all world events, all situations and things past, present and future will be repeated forever, an infinite number of times. This thesis can be understood as the expression of the maximum claim of life: life is fleeting, birth, life and death. The will to power, "essence" of life. It is the basic principle of reality from which all beings develop. Characteristics that he is actually being (the will to power) are: irrationality: the reason is just a surface dimension of reality because the world is not rational but chaos, multiplicity, difference, change and death, the reason has the last word, since it is always available to other bodies such as the...

Ethical Criteria of Truth: Evidence and Errors

Evidence is the ultimate criterion of truth, but how do we measure the strength of evidence? Ethics is the most terrible and most glorious aspect of being human. The pattern of life, truth, and values, namely the need to distinguish truth from falsehood to avoid tragedy. Values are at stake as fundamental as peace, freedom, equality, and justice. This is very serious. Some say we cannot agree upon the formulation of ethical principles valid for humanity. Although in some cases there are violent disputes, often there is no disagreement on the fundamentals, but on how to accept or interpret the accepted principles. All these problems that ethics will have to resolve, but should not hide the fact that...

Social Contract Theories

The justification of the state: contractualism: Social Contract: "According to the agreement among the community to enforce laws and make the state appear." They are the citizens who decide to cede power to an authority and legitimacy. These theories are contractualism. Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. Two forms of state:

• a) State of nature: Describes Life as it would not exist without the state
• b) Welfare state: People are forced to organize on the basis of an agreement or covenant.

Thomas Hobbes

First to use the term social contract. He understood the state of nature and justification of the rule as follows:

1. a) State of Nature. "Homo homini lupus" Man is a wolf to man, without a state is governed by the law of the jungle. The

Critique of Western Culture

Nietzsche was concerned with the loss of classical values, a phenomenon he termed decadence. The decline of authentic life values and the loss of life's meaning is what Nietzsche defined as nihilism. He affirmed that by relying on knowledge and holding as true only that which is the result of rationalization, one can fall into nihilism. This is what happened starting with Socrates and Plato.

Nihilism

• It is the act of not attributing any value to life; it devalues life.
• It is a reaction where all established values are replaced with the singular value of life itself, for example, by denying the existence of God.

Critique of Philosophy

• Nietzsche rejects the Socratic idea that reason = virtue = happiness. For him, happiness