Nietzche Vs. Socrates And Plato Essay, Research Paper
Nietzsche s thoughts on finite differed dramatically from Socrates and Plato. Nietzsche believes that everyone should embrace the finite because you will enhance this life and make it more beautiful. He rejects the theory that eternity is of more importance than the present life. To Nietzsche, pursuing what you love to do is the only way to excellence. But for Socrates and Plato, they believe that the body weighs down the soul. They say this because they believe that by succumbing to life s wants you are encumbering the soul. Both Socrates and Plato view the body as evil. Instead, Socrates and Plato are interested in the infinite, life beyond the body, life with a beginning and no end. They believe that what is done in this life affects your present life, the soul after your death and lives after that.
Socrates and Plato believe that the soul is infinite and unchanging, when the body the soul still lives. After the bodies death, the soul is in a state of contemplation. This state lacks time (since the soul is infinite) and the soul is by itself. The soul then discovers it has a body and is reincarnated. Since the body weighs down the soul, it clouds the soul and causes the soul to forget, and that is why you can t remember the soul in a different body.
To explain the soul as an unchanging form, we use the example of water. It is made of two hydrogen and one oxygen, that has been the form today, was the form yesterday, and will continue to be the defining elements of water until the end of time. Just as the soul is unchanging, it is the same as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow.
Nietzsche would explain the soul as finite with a beginning and an end, the end being the death of the body. He believes that what is going on now is what is important and since there is no life after death, the body is not a weight on the soul. It seams that he believes in living for the moment because it is all we have.