Rihab Attafi
Professor Amanda Berry
LIT 252.001 Survey of Literary Theory: Thinking theoretically about literature
Fall, 2016
Question 1:
In “On Truth and Lies in a Non-Moral Sense,” Nietzsche writes: “That immense framework and planking of concepts to which the needy man clings his whole life long in order to preserve himself is nothing but a scaffolding and toy for the most audacious feats of the liberated intellect.” (p 8) What does this mean? Does it correspond to any degree to Marx’s conception of ideology? If so, how? If not, why not?
In this statement Nietzsche argues that every concept man pretends to understand and fully acknowledge is based on arbitrary notions defined by a group of people recognized as the elite class…show more content… According to Marx, man is not aware that both his capabilities and his limitations are influenced by his material reality. Man denies the fact that his future is based on one simple rule: he who owns and he who works. In other words, the nature of humans depends on the material condition determining their production. A well-educated wealthy man will definitely grow up to be a capitalist; he will focus on investing his commodity to grow a business. Similarly, a member of the working class will only focus on having a job; he will not be looking for his dream job he will simply be interested in any job that will provide him with enough money to live. These workers under the capitalist regime develop a sense of alienation, not only from their job but also from themselves and from other workers. The system of capitalism influences their psychological state; it makes them feel like slaves, it deprives them from the feeling of satisfaction and it estranges them from their humanity. They do not connect with their job as they see it only as a mean of survival. This feeling of alienation limits the man’s social life and his desire to have a better one. In fact, social classes are a barrier for these workers. It creates a huge gap between them and the rest of the world: one of the main things that encourages the growth of this gap is what Marx called cultural…show more content… It presented the notions of emotions and resorting to poetry to escape the harsh reality. That era was marked by the beginning of the downfall of religion. Poetry was regarded by many “good man” as the new religion. Terry Eagleton states that literature was used as an escape for people where they could hide away from their reality and connect with the version of their lives that they want to achieve. In this utopian version of reality, they escaped social classes and the set of problems capitalism brought upon them. It was a form of a’’ nostalgic haven from the alienations of industrial
