Conforming to the Crowd
Phil 355
24 September 2013
Conforming to the Crowd: The Face of the Faceless Since the beginning of time, humanity sat in the desperate dwellings of their own thoughts cursed to misunderstand all they could ever be. Unrealized potential, if you will, which dangled in front of their collective selves, much like the notorious forbidden fruit that existed in plain sight just hanging slightly out of reach. As humanity rode the ebb of time, they endeavored to contemplate that which they could never hope to understand asking such questions as, “Who are we?” and “Where do we belong?” These deceptively simple questions shook the very foundation of human existence forcing the weak to look inward for answers when these pitiful creatures had barely formulated the proper questions. History has credited two philosophers with the creation of a new school of thought that would tackle these seemingly simple questions. Under the thin guise of many pseudonyms, Søren Kierkegaard attempted to reconcile the issues religion had planted into his psyche by reintroducing man to religion. Later, Frederick Nietzsche came along and said in opposition that religion is dying for we have in fact killed God. Even though these two philosophers stand on opposing sides of a deep chasm, modern scholars have dubbed these two the fathers of modern existentialism. For far too long the Christian Church, henceforth referred to as The Entity, flexed its powerful muscles reshaping society1 into its own sickly image forged by God, twisted by man and endured by all (Marino 176). Consequently, the emergence of one thing usually marks the death of another. From its inception, the Entity controlled everything from common law to ways in which people interacted with each other behind closed doors and in public. If one were to decipher the origins of the modern way of life, it is easy to discern remnants of ancient Christian ideals indicating exactly what is “good” and “just.” For two millennia, people
24 September 2013
Conforming to the Crowd: The Face of the Faceless Since the beginning of time, humanity sat in the desperate dwellings of their own thoughts cursed to misunderstand all they could ever be. Unrealized potential, if you will, which dangled in front of their collective selves, much like the notorious forbidden fruit that existed in plain sight just hanging slightly out of reach. As humanity rode the ebb of time, they endeavored to contemplate that which they could never hope to understand asking such questions as, “Who are we?” and “Where do we belong?” These deceptively simple questions shook the very foundation of human existence forcing the weak to look inward for answers when these pitiful creatures had barely formulated the proper questions. History has credited two philosophers with the creation of a new school of thought that would tackle these seemingly simple questions. Under the thin guise of many pseudonyms, Søren Kierkegaard attempted to reconcile the issues religion had planted into his psyche by reintroducing man to religion. Later, Frederick Nietzsche came along and said in opposition that religion is dying for we have in fact killed God. Even though these two philosophers stand on opposing sides of a deep chasm, modern scholars have dubbed these two the fathers of modern existentialism. For far too long the Christian Church, henceforth referred to as The Entity, flexed its powerful muscles reshaping society1 into its own sickly image forged by God, twisted by man and endured by all (Marino 176). Consequently, the emergence of one thing usually marks the death of another. From its inception, the Entity controlled everything from common law to ways in which people interacted with each other behind closed doors and in public. If one were to decipher the origins of the modern way of life, it is easy to discern remnants of ancient Christian ideals indicating exactly what is “good” and “just.” For two millennia, people
Cited: Marino, Gordon. "Basic Writing of Existentialism." New York: The Modern Library, 2004. 1-40, 107-188. Print. Martin, Clancy and Robert C. Solomon. "Morality and the Good Life: An Introduction to Ethics through Classical Sources." New York: McGraw Hill, 2004. 372-429. Print. Soccio, Douglas J. "Archetypes of Wisdom." 6th. Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. 403-432, 464-488. Print.