Philosopher

· Ontology-how do they explain the nature of being? · Epistemology: the investigation of how we distinguish belief from opinion.
 * __Topic-__** Existentialism
 * __Philosophers-__** Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche
 * __Definitions-__**

· How do they distinguish belief from opinion? o Both philosophers had the idea that belief is caused by an opinion, where opinion is the freedom of decision undertaken by the individual and belief is the more concrete base of the opinion. · What does this reasoning process look like? o The way each philosopher reasoned was similar because they both had some religious influence and that caused a unique train of thought that was congruent to each other. Their religious influence is what helped them reason out situations, for example Kierkegaard uses the example of Abraham and his son to reason the idea of choice. · What is defined as true? What is believable? o Your existence is true and your actions define it. Your choice of something is believable since each person has the liberty to choose. The thing that is believable would also be your existence, as long as you are aware. · Are they a rationalist or an empiricist? o They are both rationalists. · What roles do senses play in knowing? o According to Kierkegaard your senses are very important in knowing. According to him they are the essence of your existence. If you do not sense you are not aware and when you are not aware then you do not exist. So your senses are a huge part in knowing. · What role does rationality play in knowing? o Both philosophers rationalize on ideas and concepts. Most of their theories are based on reasoning, which implies that the significance of rationality in knowing is fairly large. It is what creates the boundary of knowing and not knowing because it is developed to know about something and understand it logically. · How is rational different from non-rational? o Rational is reasoning while non-rational is using observations and experiences the same as empirical. · What can we know? What can we not know? o From both philosophers concepts we can know that each individual has a choice or decision in a situation. However, we cannot fully know the influential cause of the decision or the real belief of a person. · How do we acquire knowledge? o Through the existence of the individual. · How do they define our place in the world? o Both share the same aspect that we are faults and need to be redefined and complete through our freedom of choice.
 * __Questions that are considered:__**


 * Mini paragraph:**

Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are distinct philosophers who believed in the individual, that each person has the liberty to choose what he or she wants to become. They both challenged the concept of freedom of choice and to not choose what to do is actually a choice; they both based this idea through rationalism (reasoning). Also, they proposed the question of existence and why we exist. Kierkegaard believed more in a religious aspect, that the relationship between man and God is through faith. We had a relationship with God and fell. This fall caused our alienation, or our existence. For one to exist Kierkegaard believed that to exist means to be aware, subjectively, or inwardly, of our unique individuality. He proposed the example of two men on a carriage. One man was holding the reigns and was asleep, and the other man was fully awake and steering the horse. To us both men exist, however in Kierkegaard’s view, only one exists and that is the one driving the horse. This is because he believed that our existence is determined in the action of the individual. Nietzsche agreed with the concept of existence, however, in a different way. He said that God is dead and we have killed him. Nietzsche stated in the book “The Gay Science” that a madman said he seeks God, and tried to demonstrate how the humans had faults and we are the ones who killed God. Nietzsche believed in the ideal human or superman, where a person who has fulfilled the highest level of physical, intellectual, and emotional development. Nietzsche also gave an example of the individual power, and self-morality. He compared the situation of masters and slaves. He said how the herd, the people (divided by masters and slaves), could coexist if and only if each person (master or slave) would not influence any of their values on one another. Unfortunately, this is not happening because both types of people are constantly influencing each other through interaction and views. Both philosophers believed that the individuality of the human being was important. Both men philosophized on the individuality of the human and the reason of his or her existence, in some relationship to God. || (Relationship to God) || Superhuman || (Alienation from God) || Monkey ||
 * **__Kierkegaard Belief:__** || **__Nietzsche Belief:__**
 * Essential Self
 * The Fall || Ordinary Person (Existence) ||
 * Existence

**__SKIT__**


 * __Tom__**: Hey Jerry, do we exist?
 * __Jerry__**: Why of course we do Tom. The real question is how can we define existing? What I believe is that to exist we have to be doing some form of action.
 * __Tom__**: What do you mean?
 * __Jerry__**: Well let me give you an example. When Spike is sleeping and you put earmuffs on him and create a huge amount of ruckus he does not know what is going on. Now if he was up and all of the same commotion was presented he would have acknowledged it and only then he would exist, to himself.
 * __Tom__**: ???
 * __Jerry__**: Based on rationalizing I reasoned out that when you are asleep you are unaware of your surroundings however, when your are awake you are acting and sensing and therefore are knowing and existing.
 * __Tom__**: Ok so how would does God fit into this picture?
 * __Jerry__**: We had a close relationship with God and then fell. When we fell it caused us to be estranged and this estrangement is what caused our existence.
 * __Tom__**: Makes sense.
 * __Narrator__**: A dumpster hobo over hears them and enters the scene…
 * __Dump hobo__**: Now listen here you two, I have been living in that dumpster for such a long time and have been trying to make sense of existence. This is what I came up with…God is dead…
 * __Tom and Jerry__**: What?!?!?! What are you saying you ignorant fool?
 * __Dump hobo__**: I try to make sense of this through my book the “Gay science”…
 * __Tom and Jerry__**: And things just keep getting stranger…
 * __Dump hobo__**: In this book a madman is seeking God and through this he explains how we “killed God”. This shows how we have faults. And to be a superman, my ideal person like Alexander the Great, you need to fulfill the highest level of physical, intellectual, and emotional development.
 * __ Jerry __** : So what are you implying?
 * __ Dump hobo __** : The average human exists with many faults that need to be fixed and to be “fixed” you need to achieve the highest level of physical, intellectual, and emotional development.
 * __ Jerry __** : I see your point yet still disagree with your bizarre statement…”God is dead”…
 * __ Narrator __** : Tom evilly looks at Jerry then pounces saying “So if I eat you when you are asleep you don’t exist…might as well feast on you while your awake!!!”