Pillars of the Postmodern Age (link list)

See separate Freep links below | July 7, 2002 | Peter Kreeft via JMJ333

[polemikos]

They are:
Machiavelli, the inventor of "the new morality";
The most amazing thing about this brutal philosophy is that it won the modern mind, though only by watering down or covering up its darker aspects

Kant, the subjectivizer of Truth;
He gave impetus to the turn from the objective to the subjective, including the redefinition of truth itself as subjective. The consequences have been catastrophic.

Nietzsche, the self-proclaimed Anti-Christ;
Nietzsche, the insane inventor of the "superman" was not only the favorite philosopher of Nazi Germany, he is the favorite philosopher of hell.

Freud, the founder of the sexual revolution;
Freud constantly assumes that our wants are needs or rights; that no one can be expected to live without gratifying them; or to suppress them is psychologically unhealthy.

Marx, the false Moses for the masses;
Marx embraced atheism and communism, yet Marxism retains all the major structural and emotional factors of biblical religion, promising to deliver people from slavery.

Sartre, the apostle of absurdity.
Tough-minded honesty combined with fundamental errors led to repellant conclusions like the meaninglessness of life, the arbitrariness of values and the impossibility of love.

A 6-part series posted by JMJ333

[polemikos]

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[JMJ333]

Thanks. =)

[JMJ333]

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[x]

How well does Kant fit in with the others? Marx, Freud, Nietzsche and Sartre all had a will to destroy the older institutions of socieity. Did Kant? Did Machiavelli? Love him or hate him, Kant was thrown off balance by Hume's skepticism and was trying to right himself and find some foundation for knowledge. He probably took the wrong path, but his instinct wasn't to destroy but to save something from the general destruction of skepticism.

[polemikos]

Machiavelli, as a father of pragmatism, fits well with Nietzsche's 'will to power'. His atheism with most of the others.

Kant, doesn't fit in that he sought to restore the dignity of man in an increasingly impersonal world. But his attempt to push aside reason "to make room for faith" backfired. And his nickname wasn't "The Destroyer" for nothing...;->

[JMJ333]

The link will take you to the post on Kant. Kreeft feels he was fairly destructive because he relagated everything to the world of subjectivity.

[JMJ333]

Kant thought religion could never be a matter of reason, evidence or argument, or even a matter of knowledge, but a matter of feeling, motive and attitude. This assumption has deeply influenced the minds of most religious educators (e.g., catechism writers and theology departments) tody, who have turned their attention away from the plain “bare bones” of faith, the objective facts narrated in Scripture and summarized in the Apostles' creed. They have divorced the faith from reason and married it to pop psychology, because they have bought into Kant's philosophy.

I hear that sentiment echoed here quite a bit.

[JMJ333]

The link will take you to the post on Kant. Kreeft feels he was fairly destructive because he relagated everything to the world of subjectivity.

My blindness again as I skipped over your nice little summation. I will proof read one of these days. ;)

[concerned about politics]

New Age political correctness has created more hate in the world than ever before in history. I believe it will be the underlying cause of WWIII. It will all start via liberalist doctrine, their un-American politicians, and their litigation . Forcing others to think contrary to their conscience creates hate, violence, war.
Mankind has the desire to be free. Political correctness binds the mind and soul into an unatural world of chaos, plague, dependancy, slavery, and dispare.
Socialism has destroyed every nation that has tried it. It will destroy many nations again. It's a faulty system that leads to a universal culture of death.

[APBaer]

"he is the favorite philosopher of hell"

Was that a Quinnipiac or Zogby poll?

[muleboy]

What, no Hegel, Darwin, Hefner ???

[polemikos]

Was that a Quinnipiac or Zogby poll?

LOL. Who has the polling contract for hell these days? CBS or NYT?

[polemikos]

What, no Hegel, Darwin, Hefner?

You can probably make the case for Hegel and Darwin.
Hefner's more of a bastard offspring of Freud and Sartre.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

No Pee-Wee Herman? [humor alert]

[medved]

Why did you leave Chuck Darwin out of your little losers' list?

[xm177e2]

Nietzsche, the insane inventor of the "superman" was not only the favorite philosopher of Nazi Germany, he is the favorite philosopher of hell.

Nietzsche was not a Nazi. His sister took control of his estate when he was old and sick, and she was a Nazi, she was the one who used him to support Hitler. But Nietzsche was not, he even said Germany should never harm its Jews, because any people who had suffered so much must be extraordinary. Does that sound like a "Nazi" to you?

[polemikos]

If you have a good synopsis of their philosophical failings, please post. Would love to read it. TIA.

[cornelis]

what?! No Hegel? Strange title.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Yeah, yeah. LOL! Never forget the monkey bones business.