Weltgeist

St. Anselm of Canterbury was an Italian Benedictine monk who lived in the 11th century AD. Chiefly known for his so-called ontological proof of God, he also wrote other theological treatises such as "Why God Became Man".
This video explores the theological significance of Christmas. Why did God become human? What was the point?

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OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

Music used:
"Mesmerizing Galaxy", "Lightless Dawn", "Minima" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
02:56 Insanity and censored works
05:24 The Law against Christianity
07:57 Philosophy of Insanity?
10:00 First proposition
14:09 Second proposition
25:53 Third proposition
26:26 Fourth proposition
32:14 Fifth proposition
34:17 Sixth proposition
40:38 Seventh proposition

Nietzsche's The Antichrist was written in 1888 but only published 6 years later. Publication was delayed because not long after writing the work, Nietzsche started writing his so-called "insanity letters" (Wahnbriefe) to friends, which caused them concern for his mental well-being. He signs these letters as either The Crucified One or Dionysus, and claims (among other things) he has created the world and that the Pope should be shot.

His friends are concerned and send him to the doctor while they take control over the manuscript of The Antichrist. The book would not see publications for over half a decade.

Ostensibly, because they thought this book was written while Nietzsche was already mentally unwell and that therefore, it shouldn't be considered a serious work of philosophy of his. But actually, the book itself is very straightforward, sets out arguments in a neat, orderly manner -- totally unlike his later insanity letters. No, the book was more than likely withheld because of its radical anti-Christian contents.

The final page of the book, a declaration of a "Law against Christianity" was initially omitted from the work because it was thought to be a separate note that wasn't necessarily intended to be included. Later scholarship has proven that this enigmatic final page should indeed be part of the Antichrist, but even today many editions lack this concluding section of the work.

It was suppressed for its radical tone and anti-Christian sentiment. Why? Nietzsche is, characteristically for this period, hyperbolic and radical. He lists seven propositions, policy proposals, that together make up his "Law against Christianity."

In summary, they are:

1) Priests should be locked up
2) Church services are an attack on public morality
3) The birthplace of Christianity should be razed to the ground
4) Chastity is anti-nature
5) Associating with priests should be a crime
6) Words like “God”, “savior” and “redeemer” should be used as insults, fit for criminals
7) All the rest follows from this.

This video takes a deeper dive into each proposition Nietzsche wrote down here, and examines them in the light of his earlier philosophy. Was this final page the work of a madman, writing on the edge of insanity, or does it follow logically from his earlier work?

This video was sponsored by Brilliant.

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The philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer has often been cited as a textbook example of philosophical pessimism. Yet, strangely enough, Schopenhauer himself never refers to either himself, or his writings, as pessimistic. Even stranger, Schopenhauer has often been called a hypocrite for having a pessimistic philosophy while also enjoying fine dining in Frankfurt restaurants, frequent trips to the opera, and affairs with women. As Nietzsche famously remarked (in Beyond Good and Evil), he played the flute every night -- is this a pessimist? In this video we take a dive into Schopenhauer's main work, The World as Will and Representation, and we find out if he can be truly called a "pessimist"... and in what sense.

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WATCH:
Nietzsche Explained: Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
Nietzsche Explained: On the Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI

This is one of the most dense chapters in Friedrich Nietzsche's entire works. It details in little more than 200 words, the entire history of metaphysics in the Western tradition, from the perspective of Nietzsche's philosophy of the Hinterwelt (the beyond-world, or metaphysics in general). Beginning with Plato, stopping by Christianity, Kant, and the positivists like Auguste Comte, and culminating in Nietzsche and Zarathustra, as represented in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

This video deals with a single chapter from Nietzsche's "Twilight of the Idols", one of his later works. In effect, it's a very concise summary of the entirety of the Genealogy of Morals, while much of the alluded-to "philosophy of the future" is explained in his other major work: Beyond Good and Evil.

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Books mentioned:
▶ Gracián audiobook: https://amzn.to/458iCWb
▶ Gracián paperback: https://amzn.to/3MXpaAu
▶ Rilke audiobook: https://amzn.to/3Yc8lV1
▶ Rilke paperback: https://amzn.to/45rn9Tq
▶ Bonus: Rilke Selected Poems audiobook: https://amzn.to/4pf25a4

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Thumbnail inspiration: https://youtu.be/92tVm7VSlic

GOETHE RECOMMENDATIONS:
▶ All-In One Dramatization (free w/ trial: Werther, Faust, & more): https://amzn.to/48tHcTu
▶ The Essential Goethe: https://amzn.to/4pmYur7
▶ The Sorrows of Young Werther: https://amzn.to/4pVbKmM
▶ Goethe: Life as a Work of Art by Rüdiger Safranski: https://amzn.to/3KvJf03
▶ Also as audiobook (free with trial): https://amzn.to/4a3jzlR
▶ Faust performance on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qaogjXLdPow
▶ Faust performance on DVD (careful to pick the right DVD option US/EU): https://amzn.to/3Mwwp21
▶ Conversations with Goethe by Eckermann: https://amzn.to/48XAp4m

OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

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Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil is one of the most important works in Western philosophy. Written in 1886, it represented Nietzsche's attempt to elucidate ideas first written about in Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra). Unfortunately, the book is also very difficult and widely misunderstood. This video attempts to set the stage for a deeper understanding of this seminal work of German philosophy.
In this first part, we explore the significance of the title, Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future, and we introduce the concept of the "philosophical prejudice" which is the main theme of the work. Nietzsche believed "other philosophers" (all those who came before him; notably Descartes, Kant, Plato, Schopenhauer and the Stoics) suffered, unbeknownst to them, from hidden presuppositions. Nietzsche, the philosopher with the hammer, seeks to destroy these presuppositions and lead the charge in the creation of a new philosophy of the future.
In this part we mainly discuss Nietzsche's treatment of Descartes famous "cogito ergo sum", "I think, therefore I am" argument. In later parts we will discuss the Will to Power and other Nietzschean philosophical concepts.

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Download the essay: https://weltgeist.tv/reading
Arthur Schopenhauer's famous essay "On Books and Reading" is actually more about NOT reading. Schopenhauer offers us six rules for reading books. Here is some reading advice from one of the greatest thinkers in history and philosophy... Enjoy.

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DOWNLOAD THE ESSAY: http://weltgeist.tv/style
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Schopenhauer is well-known for his clear and lucid writing style, a rare accomplishment in the field of philosophy, and even more rare in German philosophy. What is the secret to his style?

Thankfully, he has blessed us with an essay on exactly this topic. In this video we’re sharing the tips Schopenhauer wrote down for us in his essay “On Authorship and Style.”

First tip: Have something to say
Second tip: Keep it concise
Third tip: Don’t write for money
Fourth tip: Think before you write
Fifth tip: Choose a good title
Sixth tip: Form over matter
Seventh tip: Find your own voice

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Support us on Patreon, get access to exclusive videos:
▶ https://www.patreon.com/WeltgeistYT

OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
00:35: Heinrich von Kleist
02:53 Immanuel Kant
05:12 Kant the All-Destroyer
08:11 Kleist and Kant
14:26 Now what?

Heinrich von Kleist was a German writer who engaged with Kant’s philosophy. Convinced that metaphysics, and thus meaning, were impossible, he ended his life. “My sole and highest aim has vanished. Now I have none.”

In 1801, German writer and playwright Heinrich von Kleist first came into contact with the Kantian philosophy. His critique of reason and its limits made a lasting impression on him. The young Kleist had been obsessed with finding the answers to the great questions of life, and in the Age of Enlightenment, Reason seemed to conquer all.

However, Immanuel Kant published his Critique of Pure Reason in 1791, and argued that we cannot make definite judgements about the world-in-itself. Our knowledge must be confined to the phenomenon, not the noumenon. For Kleist, this was an admission that humanity’s highest goal would forever be out of reach: the answer to the meaning of life.

Life seemed meaningless to him now, truth impossible, hope useless. In his despair, he ended his life.

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