Notes for History-March 24th Fin de Siecle-This translates to, literally, End of the Century.

This is marked y a rise of anti-Semitism, nationalism, and a ne!found romantic "ie! of #ienna. This is rele"ant someho!. This is also the solidification of li eralism. $t has no! come to %o!er, yet not e"eryone is entirely satisfied !ith it. &thers ans!er this disillusionment y sim%ly sayin' that there are no a solute ans!ers or solutions. $n a direct counter this, others assert that there are sim%ly ne! ans!ers. (mon'st those !ho ha"e the assertion that there are )no) ans!ers, Niet*sche incessantly in+uires the nature of %o%ular understandin'. (s a child, he !as often ill. He !as intended for the ministry, yet he lost his faith as a teen once his father %assed a!ay. He !as an a solutely rilliant scholar, and !as a%%ointed as a %rofessor !ithout a doctorate. He has a hi'hly unorthodo, life. He had a fallin' out !ith one of his closest friends, -ichard .a'ner. He s%ent his last years in a mental institution. His school of thou'ht is not systematic, and conse+uently cannot e roken do!n or or'ani*ed. This can e attri uted to the fact that his teachin's lar'ely !rite of the chaos of the !orld. &ne of his most famed +uotes is, easily, )/od is dead.) He says that humans %ro0ect a di"ine ein' as an institution and systematic means of enforcin' morality. 1et, the %o!er that this entity once had has een lost, and thus humans ha"e killed /od. )E'o Su%erstition2) The sense that you ha"e control o"er anythin'. That man is, in fact, in control of e"erythin'. 3oth 'rammatically, lin'uistically, etc. 1et, humans are hardly in control o"er their !orld. )Free S%irit) (ccordin' to him, the future elon's to the )free s%irits,) those !ho do not a ide y the institutional la!s. The u ermenschen, if you !ill. (nd yet, if one is ein' insu ordinate only for the sake of being insu ordinate, then they are not truly free. Finally, he did a!ay com%letely !ith any and all %ree,istin' notions of )truth,) )%ro'ress,) and )reason.) He asserted that these !ere all myths, a kind of %recursor to a %ostmodern )narrati"e.) He said that the true forces of history are our innate dri"es, our !ill to %o!er. These instincts, accordin' to Niet*sche, are entirely eyond our control. No (ns!ers2 Si'mund Freud He had many strikin'ly similar conce%tions that Freud did, yet he sim%ly 'a"e these ideals a clinical face. His !ills to %o!er !ere the )unconscious) dri"es. 3ack'round2 He came from an im%o"erished 4e!ish family, yet they al!ays stro"e to e middle class. Freud !ould reali*e this dream y 'oin' into medicine.

&ne may think of Freud oth as a detecti"e as !ell as an archeolo'ist. He !as an a"id reader of Sherlock Holmes no"els, and !ould ha"e a similar a%%roach in tryin' to disco"er the dri"es of human nature. 3our'eois -ationalism2 He ado%ted a "ery li eral a%%roach, !hether he !as a!are of this or not. Freud5s Three 6ey Terms2 Ego2 &f all of the different com%onents of the unconscious, Freud says that this is the only one !e ha"e any de'ree of control o"er. Id: (ll desire is fundamentally a se,ual instinct, and yet the id is res%onsi le for transfi'urin' these desires into socially acce%ta le norms. Superego: The moderator et!een instincts and rationality. Effects on Society2 Follo!ers. .e are all kind of Niet*schean shee%. Chan'es entirely the notion of )%ri"ate) life. No lon'er does one confide in the )%ri"ate,) as this is the irth%lace of all of the darkest com%onents of human nature. This all renders an entirely ne! "ie! of ci"ili*ation. Ci"ili*ation is the su%ere'o of all of humanity. He asserts that there is oth re%ression and su limation acti"ely and collecti"ely. -e%ression is the self-censorshi% of one5s unacce%ta le desires and dri"es. Su limation is the dis%lacement of these desires into an entirely different and o taina le 'oal. (ll of his "ie!s are strikin' criti+ues of the modern norm. Ne! (ns!ers2 7i eralism and the 7eft -e"olutionary $deals and Socialist 8arties. The loody end of the 8aris Commune in 9:;9 !as a !atershed in li eral thou'ht. $n /ermany, the S<8 =their socialist %arty> !as founded in 9:;?. $t found its 'enesis as an ille'al, under'round or'ani*ation, yet it +uickly ecame the stron'est and lar'est %arty throu'hout the country. This is easily attri uted to industriali*ation. $n 3ritain, a similar socialist %arty, the 7a our 8arty, !as founded in 9:@A. 1et it hardly had any kind of true notoriety until lon' after the second .orld .ar. France has a some!hat am i"alent stance on the matter. There is a %olari*ed mi, of oth entirely disillusioned anarchists and socialists, and firm, authoritarian %olitical rule. Ne! (ns!ers2 7i eralism and the -i'ht Criti+ues of li eralism lay the 'round!ork for %roto-fascist nationalism. $t is a rise of a nationalism and a firm national identity that solidifies indi"iduals !ithin their res%ecti"e country.

Communication and Technolo'y2 This easily 'i"es somethin' to com%are other nations to themsel"es, and this is a mindset !hich %er"ades our thou'ht %rocess on 'lo ali*ation to this day. Social <ar!inism, ,eno%ho ia, and racism !ere all %er%etuated y the intellectual history of the day. This racism de'rades the "ie! of human life and %romotes all ideas of racial su%eriority. This, naturally, meant that this conflict made itself manifest in the Modern &lym%ics, !hich !ere founded in (thens in 9:@B. .hile all nations do con"ene to'ether, it is still "ery much out of a desire to %ro"e the su%eriority of one5s nation. <a"is Cu%, 9@CC. $ don5t kno!. $ ha"en5t had reakfast yet and $5m sufferin' from +uite the cold. .ho 7ikes the Ne! -i'htD The discontented students !ho find the educational systems to e archaic find much a%%eal in these ne! ideolo'ies. $n a shorta'e of 0o s and an unsta le economy, they find 'reat consolation in these ideas of inherent su%eriority. 8eo%le cau'ht et!een usiness and i' la or, additionally, feel 'reatly connected !ith these ne! ideals. Finally, this results in the s%lit of internationalism and nationalism. The elites of the Ne! -i'ht are firm ad"ocates of nationalism, !hereas the socialists ad"ocate firmly for internationalism. Elitism and Mass Culture2 The ne!est inno"ations of technolo'y unitin' %eo%le under their res%ecti"e ideolo'ical um rellas. Three Menaces =(ccordin' to the -i'ht>2 9. 3i' 3usiness2 Somethin' that is im%edin' indi"idual %ros%erity. 2. 7i erals2 /o"ernment is ne'lectin' the indi"iduals. A. 4e!s2 The %ercei"ed %u%%et-masters ehind oth usiness as !ell as the li eral 'o"ernment.