Modernism

Menkin came up with many sayings that are referred to in popular culture, for example 'dog bites man is not news. Man bites dog is news'. For news to succeed and hold audience interest it has to be something out of the ordinary.

Nietzsche (1844–1900), was German philosopher who wrote in a mad style (spurts and dollops). He translated the writings of ancient Greek philosopher Zarathustra. Nietzsche used Zararthustra as the character within his writing (a charater that spends ten years in solitude in a quest of slef improvement), to enable him express his ideas. Nietzche's book is entitled 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra', it is essentially a spiritual journey written in prose with an even religious or self improvement feel to it. There are chapters with advice on topics such as chastity, friendship and redemption. Almost ironically the book mocks religion and the bible. Nietzsche felt that anyone who was religious or nationalist was weak, un able to progress or evolve into something better, never to become the 'superman'. The only way to become the 'superman' is to leave ones soul behind, and all emitions and even the sense of justice. Looking at characters in history, one might consider Hitler to be a 'superman' because of his great sense of power and for the destruction he caused, but even Hitler was weak in the eyes of Nietzsche because Hitler was very nationalist. Nietzsche came up with the phrase 'God is dead'. While logic tells us that in order for Nietzsche to belive that God had died, he must have believed that God had lived first, for something cannot die if it never been alive or existed in the first place. There is the Newtonian clockmaker idea, that God made the world and then left it, at immediate contemplation one could consider that this is in line with Nietzsche's thinking. Actually Nietzsche is presenting the argument that the IDEA of God is dead. He felt that God had always been an idea anyway, and idea for the basis of religion, belief, a purpose and reason for humanity to exist, a code for morality and consequence of bad action, but that the idea was no longer evolving people on, that it was now a weak, silly and old idea. If people wanted to become 'superman' they had to let it all go. Nietzsche wanted people to be true to the earth, not true to God, to leave traditions and never look back believing that God numbs the soul and that there is no Devil or hell either.

Justice, reason, virtue and happiness are what hold humans back from evolving into something better. It almost like telling a child that father christmas is not real after all, that they wont be getting Christmas stockings anymore and that they are old enough to begin buying gifts for other people, brcause that where the presents came from all along, other people, people not the magical father christmas. When the child feels hurt, betrayed and sad that their fantasy is gone mother says 'oh grow up Charlie, dont be so selfish' etc. I think it must have been hard for people to hear Nietzche's message, I dont know if it was all that attractive to follow.

In the Modernist movement, people only needed God in the gaps that they couldn't understand, the gaps not yet filled by science. Or a shift of focus from God, from something bigger than ourself to the wonder of ourselves, like in the Rennaisance 'man is the measure of all things'. Hegel's Gheist, was a different kind of God, something to aid human progession to world paradise.

Ideas of no fixed points in space, that nothing is absoloute, could bring one to live a life where there are no regrets. The now popular phrase 'that which doesnt kill us makes us stronger'.