MIDTERM:

QUESTION:   (5)  How are technology and the technological organization of life a response to nihilism according to Junger? How is the integration of technology and humanity negatively depicted in Dada art?

   Technology and the technological organization of life is a response to nihilism according to Junger in that people constantly rely on modern day technology. The influence of technology  has made many changes throughout the world and some of this is seen in Dada art. The merging of technology with humanity is negatively depicted in Dada art. Technology changes the world that we live in and most importantly the role of humans in society, and how we interact in relationship to it.
     It is a response to nihilism according to Junger in that people have begun to rely on technology  more, rather than hiring people for each one’s individual values, for instance.  This is seen in the quote Junger in which he states, “…as can be observed wherever the training of a man as a type rather than as an individual…” (p.21). People are hired because they belong to a certain group, they become valued more for the potential of their skill rather than their individuality. This quote relates to technology in that the computer scientist would know more about technology as compared to a baker. What would a baker know about BIOS systems, programming and the like.  Technology has expanded almost exponentially and has sort of encapsulated everything that we as humans cannot do. It has the ability of doing things more efficiently and even faster than humans can. They are capable of doing calculations in a couple of seconds, even the ones that are more complex, while it may take the average mathematician a few hours to solve it. Another example of this is the invention of war machinery such as machine guns, airplanes, and missiles.  As stated by junger, “… manned planes… constructed as airborne missiles, which from great heights can dive down to strike with lethal accuracy the nerve centers of enemy resistance”(p.18). In essence technology makes us more adpet at waging war on each other. Additionally, the integration of technology and humanity are negatively depicted in Dada art in that technology changed around many things.
           The integration of technology and humanity is negatively depicted in Dada art. Technology has improved so much it has been taking over the role of humans in their careers. Junger states, “...the growing objectification of our life appears most distinctly in technology,…Technology is our uniform” (p.31).  Junger is trying to point out that technology has become a part of our daily lives. It has been replacing the “human factor” in many places because it is more efficient and leaves room for the ever present human error. This is also present on modern warfare. Junger also claims that the, “the increasing mobility of battle operations, which our technological age strives to achieve in the construction of new war machinery, promises not only a renewal of strategic operations but also heralds the rise of a more hardened and invulnerable type of soldier…”(p.35). Technological organizations have been improving their equipment for combat trying to minimize the risk of getting hurt to the soldier. Indeed they strive to create these new “technological” soldiers. During Dadaism art has portrayed the technical improvements and inventions that were occurring during that period of time. In that period of time; equipment for war was being invented and photography and painting became popular in those days. Photos displayed damages of the war, and paintings displayed the enhancement of technology. Most of the artists of that time, around the 1920’s, most of the paintings consist of some type of technology in it. Technology is negatively depicted in that technology is slowly taking the place of human values. Since technology  has been improving as seen in Dada art, it has even taken over the human mind, as seen in the painting “Dada Siegt”, by Raoul Hausmann.
           In the modern world, technology has improved so much that one cannot live without technology. It is easy to take for granted how much we owe to technology. Every day when we step out our doors we step into a technological world. Even when it comes to career jobs, hirees are judged based on “type”, rather than as an individual. Technology has become so accurate that machinery can do the job of what a human used to do. In addition, technology and humanity have both been negatively depicted in Dada art because most of the paintings during that era display that technology will soon win over the human mind.   

MIDTERM:

QUESTION:  (3) Explain the various stages of development that Siddhartha goes through. How effective is Siddhartha's philosophy of detachment as a response to nihilism?

ANSWER: Siddhartha's main goal was finding his true self through the process of experiencing life for himself.

      He believed that in order for him to do this he had to experience, life for himself. As he stated this was not  something that others could teach him. Siddhartha embarked on a journey of self discovery,he leaves his Brahman beliefs, his family and everything he has ever known in life in his quest for enlightenment. During this  journey he passed through three stages; these  three stages were the stage of the mind; the stage of the flesh and the stage of transcendence.
    Siddhartha begins the stage of the mind by leaving home and his family,he sets out to let his "self " die or escape from the world and person he knew himself as. He goes to live with the ascetic Samanas and gives up all material possessions, as he tries to flee his own body and control his needs.  according to Hermann Hesse,  “…a goal stood before Siddhartha …to become… dead to himself, not to be a self anymore…”(p. 5).  After some time                      Siddhartha even leaves  the Samanas as he realizes that they too do not have the answers he seeks. Siddhartha realised that the Samanas didn’t believe in anything but losing one’s senses and that Atman was a belief that exits within every person and even creatures.
    Siddhartha journeys to a town where he is moved by the beauty of the courtesan Kamala as she enters her grove in a sedan, here began the stage of the flesh.  He is intrigued by the woman and asks her to teach him the arts of love. According to Hesse, "...Kamala laughs and says that she receives only those young men who approach her in fine clothes and shoes, with scent in their hair and money in their purses..." Kamala finds out that Siddhartha can read and write, she takes him to the businessman Kamaswami, who will help him "..to acquire the tokens necessary for entrance into her garden of pleasure..."  Kamala serves as a temporary distraction to Siddhartha as he becomes caught up in the pleasures of the world and the flesh. He worked with Kamaswami and lived with kamala who eventually unknown to him bore him a son. After a decade he leaves the stage of the flesh behind and goes back to the river where he lives out the remainder of his life with the ferryman.
     The stage of transcendence occurs wile he is living by the river; In the river, Siddhartha sees images come together, just as he hears voices come together.  Here,  according to Hesse "...He saw that the water continually flowed and flowed and yet it was always there, it was always the same and yet every moment it was new."  The river can be everywhere at the same time.  Only the present means anything to the river, not the past or the future. Transcendence occured when the inner voice that has guided Siddhartha thus far surges out and becomes boldly manifest in this river, which, far more than simply water, is the voice of life itself.  
     Siddhartha’s philosophy of detachment as a response to nihilism is effective in that he decided to detach himself of everything that was the accepted norms in his life. He challenged everything that was accepted as being right .Siddhartha’s philosophy of detachment as a response to nihilism is that he decides to leave everything behind him, and go on a quest to seek his own truth. Much the same as Nihilism challenged the accepted beliefs and norms of life.

Pain

Passage: In war, when shells fly past our bodies at high speeds, we sense clearly that no level of intelligence, virtue, or fortitude is strong enough to deflect them, not even by a hair. To the extent this threat increases, doubt concerning the validity of our values forces itself upon us. The mind tends toward a catastrophic interpretation of things wherever it sees everything called into question. (pp. 5-6)

Otto Dix




Pain makes us more aware of how human we are. No matter how successful we may be, no matter how generous, or how bad, pain reminds us that at any instant we may lose the one thing that we value the most, our lives. Being in danger, such as war makes us even aware of this situation. Adrenaline courses through your body as you concentrate on just making it out alive. Your heart beats faster, sweat breaks out on your brow, and you become even more aware of you surroundings. The most common reason that people seek out plastic surgery is so that they can appear younger and more rejuventaed, staving off, well at least in their minds the effects of aging. Old Age and death are ideas which scare most people, because they cannot be put off, they are inevitable. As we go through our daily lives we cringe at stories of car accidents, murders etc. because it reminds us of our own mortality. In this passage it encapsulate just this idea. War is something that we are confronted with, and cannot cringe away from. When "the shells fly past our bodies" we are confronted there and then of how little it takes for us to die. The bullet will not miss us on account of our virtue, or how rich we are, nothing will stop it from coming. How are we supposed to exist if at any minute, any day, any hour we can die. Such things as these makes us call into question our own existence, because if at any moment we can lose our lives then what is the point in living?

This drawing by Otto Dix encapsulates these thoughts precisely, because in it there is an air of desperation that he capture in this. Everything has a dark and somber mood as we see how human life has been so thus reduced to rotting corpses and skeletons stuck in the mud. Here is this place that is so devoid of any stirring of life, there is no hopeful light in the horizon, but neutral and dark tones and colors. Dix shows how life can be there one moment and then gone the next, just like a landscape that constantly changes, and changes.

Neither the reality of a single night nor even of a person's entire life can be equated with the full truth about his innermost being (pg. 98). This quote seeks to shed light on how Fridolin and Albertine's seemingly happy marriage to the outside world had become so mundane and lacking in passion that to add some sense of excitement and variety they choose to reveal their secret sexual fantasies.
As they listen to each other's fantasies, feelings of insecurities and betrayals surface. They both admit that for one night of passion in their fantasies they are willing and ready to give up everything in their lives. Fridolin feels so betrayed and angry that he leaves the house ostensibly to visit with the family of a patient who has just died. However, instead of doing this he wanders the street looking for actual sexual encounters, which he actually never consummates.
In the end he confesses what he has been up to when upon returning home, he finds his wife sleeping with the mask he wore to an orgy the night before, on the pillow beside her. Albertine listens quietly, comforts him, assuaging his guilt, and agreeing to let bygones be bygones. They move on with their lives pledging to be faitful and glad that they had survived this bump in their marriage's path. Fridolin verbalizes the aforementioned quote, which in essence really states that what we see as the outward trappings or appearances of a person's life does not really represent the entirety of an individual's life. There is a lot that lies below the surface of what is actually visible to the observer. I chose this quote because it represents what is the reality of human life. What we see outside is sometimes a far cry from what is actually the innermost reality.

Themes emerging from The Blue Angel and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

Themes emerging from The Blue Angel and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari

The three themes dealt with hereafter are control, love, and madness. Prof Rath is portrayed at the beginning of the film as a snobby middleclass man who demands order and rigidly control all around him. He has a short-tempered and always believes that he is right yet is often far-removed from the truth; this is evident in his perpetual blaming of Angst for the other students’ pranks. We see a similar controlling individual in Dr Caligari. He wields control over Cesare who seems to be unable or unwilling to do otherwise. Both films expressed the desire of man to control his life and surroundings and, people. We see this evident in Prof Rath’s exercise of control over his students and his attempts to control Lola who refuses to yield to the conventional norms. Dr. Caligari’ control of Cesare is more sinister because he is used for profitable gain and perhaps, even murderous intent. Lola’s rejection of Prof Rath’s control, the Magician’s accommodating of Prof Rath’s students and Dr Caligari’s murderous control of Cesare among others relate to nihilism because they reflect an indifferent view to the moral code of the day. And we know that there was a moral code especially among the middleclass because Prof Rath refers to himself as a “man of honor” and also in the scene where Francis reaches out to Alan encouraging him to hold on to the friendship even though they were rivals for the love of Jane.

In fact, it is for love of women that plunges these seemingly respectful men into darkness. Prof Rath falls hard for a seductress; she made no attempts at modesty. Yet though Prof Rath claims that he should leave because he’s a man of honor, he was unable to do so for quite a while. Actually, it was quite interesting that he went to the Blue Angel to find and bring his students from such depravity. However, this first visit was instrumental in his downward spiral as he clashed with his rational and irrational self. On the other hand, Jane in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was chaste and pure as evident in her depiction in the flowing white gown at the beginning. Nonetheless, she was pursued by two friends, one of whom was murdered- perhaps by Francis (even though he tells the story pointing the finger at Cesare). These men believed in the traditional concept of love; however, even though Lola marries Prof Rath, she refuses to conform to the conventional behavior befitting a wife of a middleclass professor.

Could it be the love for the women that drives these men to madness? Prof Rath is reduced to a much less the man who he was in the beginning and is the butt of the joke or used for the audience’s amusement- he is regaled to the role of clown. Meanwhile, Francis turns out to be a patient in the asylum. Did he murder his friend and was driven to madness? Could this be why he fantasized about love for Jane- it’s not clear since Jane turned out to be a patient in the asylum as well…along with Cesare- who died in Francis’s retelling of the story. This descent into darkness reflects man’s challenge in dealing with his irrational self. Remarkably, Prof Rath survives this cocooned aspect of his life by emerging as a changed man. However, Francis remains uncured in the film. This tells us that not all of us survive challenging times.