Adventures in Madness "The pen is the language of the soul; as the concepts that in it are generated, such will be its writings."

Adventures in Madness

"The pen is the language of the soul; as the concepts that in it are

generated, such will be its writings." 

– Miguel de Cervantes-

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra29 September 1547 – 23 April 1616

was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright.

His magnum opus Don Quixote, often considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature

Regarded among the best novels ever written.

His work is considered among the most important in all of literature.

Influence

His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that Spanish is often called la lengua de Cervantes “the language of Cervantes.”

He has been named: El Príncipe de los Ingenios The Prince of Wits.

Don Quixote Man de la Mancha

Alonso Quixano, a retired country gentleman in his fifties, lives in an unnamed section of La Mancha with his niece and a housekeeper.

He has become obsessed with books of chivalry (bravery)

Believes their every word to be true, despite the fact that many of the events in them are clearly impossible.

Quixano eventually appears to other people to have lost his mind from little sleep and food and because of so much reading.

The Windmills are Giants

Many Depictions

The Man of GlassAnd the Return of Sanity

Page 303

“The greatest mystery is not that we have been flung at random between this profusion of matter and the stars, but that within this prison we can draw from ourselves images powerful enough to deny our nothingness.” Les Noyers de l’Altenburg

Death Cervantes died in Madrid on

April 23, 1616. In honor of the date on

which both Cervantes and William Shakespeare died, UNESCO established April 23 as the “International Day of the Book”.

Calendars

(Shakespeare and Cervantes, however, did not actually die on the same day, as the April 23 date for Shakespeare is Julian calendar (Old Style) and the April 23 date for Cervantes is Gregorian calendar (New Style)

calendars in effect in England and in Spain, respectively, at that time.

The Gregorian calendar was then ten days ahead of the Julian.

The Encyclopedia Hispanica claims that the date widely quoted as Cervantes' date of death.

April 23, is actually the date on his tombstone, which, in accordance with the traditions of the time,

would be the date of his burial, rather than the date of his death.

Homework

Read 298-308 (Adventures in Madness) Create 10 Questions to be used for in-class

discussion Your group will present one basic

behavior/characteristic of Don Quixote

Perspective and Genius

What is the difference?

Insanity vs Genius

Friedrich Nietzsche

was a 19th-century German philosopher

classical philologist- (study of the origin of

words)

Wrote critical texts on: Religion Morality Contemporary Culture Philosophy and

Science,

German?

Nietzsche is commonly classified as a German philosopher.

The modern Germany did not exist yet.

Nietzsche was a citizen of Prussia.

When he accepted his post at Basel, Nietzsche applied for the annulment of his Prussian citizenship.

Youngest Professor at Basel

1864

He lost his citizenship came in a document dated April 17, 1869

1871

1875

For the rest of his life he remained officially stateless.

1882

On January 3, 1889, Nietzsche suffered a mental collapse.

1899

Died August 25th, 1900

Style and MetaphorIrony and Aphorism

Notable Ideas Death of God Perspectivism the Übermensch the Eternal Recurrence and the Will to Power.

Characterizing Nietzsche

Morality “immoralist"

Harshly criticizes the prominent moral logic of his day:

Christianity Kantianism (Intentionis

m) and Utilitarianism (Moral

usage) Morality continued>>>>

Morality (continued) re-evaluation of the valu

es of the Judeo-Christian world.

Exceptional people, on the other hand, should follow their own "inner law."

"Become what you are" Death of God>>>>

Death of God

death of God would eventually lead to the loss of any universal perspective on things

Loss of any coherent sense of objective truth

Instead we would retain only our own multiple, diverse, and fluid perspectives.

Nihilism

“the death of God may lead beyond bare perspectivism to outright ni

hilism.”

Die UbermenschSuperman

or “Overman”

"I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? ... All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is ape to man? A laughing stock or painful embarrassment. And man shall be that to overman: a laughingstock or painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were apes, and even now, too, man is more ape than any ape.... The overman is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth.... Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman—a rope over an abyss ... what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end."

-Thus Spoke Zarathustra-

“What an incredible man… a soul that will live for an eternity.”

A work that speaks so true to the reality of our condition by expressing every

facet of human knowledge.

Homework

What is the “Will to Power”?

Research and write

in your journals.