Quiz 1

1. What is nihilism? Is it correct to say that it is the belief in nothing?
It is correct to say that nihilism is essentially the belief in nothing. According to nihilistic opinions life is without meaning and purpose. Nietzsche characterizes it as emptying the world and especially human existence of meaning and purpose, derived from his perception that knowledge is always bounded by human perception and never unbiased. 


2. What are the differences between Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian values according to Nietzsche? Which values does he believe are better for living a full and healthy life and why?
The modern man expresses "hostility"  for those willing to impose rank and dare to strive for greatness. This is inherited from Judeo-Christian moral systems. Nietzsche viewed the Greco-Roman value system as a hope against a meaningless system. He thus believed that the Greco-Roman system was better for living  a full and healthy life having brought forth productive human beings, due to a supportive culture, who proved individual merit, but did not try to outstrip each other.


3. Why is Dada art so pessimistic and bizzare? What groups in Germany society where Dada artists trying to discredit and undermine?
Dada art is so "pessimistic and bizarre" because it is meant to be that way. The artists behind the Dada movement wanted their works to defy social notions of beauty and order; going against the norm. They sought to discredit the German military class, middle class, and working class because none of these classes had done anything much to resist the war and the further descent of society into brutality and savagery. 


4. How many jobs does Dr. Caligari have in the film?
  Caligari is the villain of the story, and also the head of an insane asylum.


5. Why does Siddhartha leave his father?
Siddhartha left his father because he wanted to experience life for himself, and in the process find his true self. He felt that all the knowledge and teaching he had acquired up to that point in his life meant nothing without putting that knowledge to practical use. He felt there was more to life than acquiring knowledge. 


6.  How does Cesare "die" in the film?
After deciding to kidnap Jane instead of killing her he is pursued by the townsfolk, dying of exhaustion at the end of the chase. 


7. Why is the river so important to Siddhartha at the end of the novel?
Siddhartha identifies the river with Brahman, "it contains everything and does not exist in time." The river helps  him to appreciate the way everything is unified; being that the "river" is not just an idea but something that is real. It symbolizes completeness; good bad everything that is part of life. 

SIDDHARTHA

SIDDHARTHA

“The oneness of the world cannot be expressed in language because language cannot properly describe experience as you actually experience it, which is why it cannot be taught, which echoes what Siddhartha said in his encounter with the Buddha earlier:”

“I’m not kidding. I’m telling you what I’ve found. Knowledge can be conveyed, but not wisdom. It can be found, it can be lived, it is possible to be carried by it, miracles can be performed with it, but it cannot be expressed in words and taught. This is what I as a young man, sometimes suspected, what has driven me away from the teachers.”

What this passage seeks to explain is the difference between “wisdom” and “knowledge.” It tells us that while knowledge is communicable, something that can be taught and we can learn from another person, wisdom is not so. Wisdom is a characteristic which can only be acquired through personal experiences we encounter daily as we live. No one can teach us wisdom or how to achieve wisdom. With wisdom comes a better understanding of life and the ability to choose wisely and take advantage of the things in life that are good for us.

            I choose this passage because it speaks to me on a personal level. I grew up with a familiar quote ringing in my ears every time I did something that resulted in a negative consequence, my grandmother would say “experience teaches wisdom, you’ll learn!” I learned from an early age that this was indeed so and that in order for this to really occur everyone has to experience life for themselves. Of special note is the fact that even though several persons may be exposed to the same situation the way each person experiences it can be different and hence wisdom and what is the end result is different for each individual.

Otto Dix was born in 1891during a time of upheaval in German society, and is best known for depicting the harsh realities of this time in his work, a prominent figure in the German Expressionist Movement. Some of his more famous work which depict the brutality and horors of war stem from his experience as a soldier in World War 1. Although he is known for these kind of depictions, he also had started working with portraiture. His portraits are also known for de-emphasizing the strenghts and good nature of his subjects, but rather bringing out their faults and turning the portrait into something more of a cariacature.
He switches his style after the second World War. Unlike his previous paintings these try to reduce the horror of the aftermath of that time through religion. Confronted with this paradox, and which side he should be on Dix does not really commit to any of the styles.At the end of his life he continued painting religious allegories, landscapes and portraits.

1. Collapsed Trenches, 1924

My intial reaction to this picture, was that this seemed a very nightmarish world. The absense of color in it accentuates that fact and draws the onlooker even closer. The rotted skeleton of dead trees looms over the landscape like sentinels  watching over the chaos down below. However, I soon become aware of the skeletons, limbs and bodies that are strewn around in the collapsed trenches. This image has a haunting quality because not only does it show the devastation, it emphasizes it too. Here man melds with the torn apart landscape, their lives reduced to becoming rotting corpses and limbs on an anonymous battlefield.










2. Flanders, 1934

From research I have learned that this pictured depicts the battlefield where three devastating battles were fought. Here, he presents the aftermath of the battles where the bodies of the soldiers lie scattered about in the rest of the carnage. Tents lay trampled and destroyed as both bodies and articles of war melt into the muddy landscape.However, instead of this being such a nightmarish scene as the previous picture the presence of the sunset indicates that he may want to onlooker to think of it differently. The colors are muted and soft, not dark and intense and casts a hazylike quality over the scene. He is putting to rest the victims who lie in the field, their bodies which will soon rot and meld with the mud. He wills the onlooker to hope that the same way the sunsets on this battlefield, so it will set on the war.

3. Three Prostitutes on the Street, 1925

There is a rift between the women, albeit they are all prostitutes. The one on the left walks by, her nose in the air and holding a little dog in her arm with obvious disdain for the two women. The one in the middle stands somewhat to the side unscrupulously  showing off what she has to offer.The other stands a bit to the side wrapped up in her coat, her haggard looking face the only thing that we see peeking out from under her hat. All three women work the "system" and its obvious that while it may work for one the others do not fare as well.