1st Question: What are the characteristics and qualities of Nietzsche’s Free Spirit?
My answer to this question is: Nietzsche claims that knowledge relies on a simplification of the truth, which makes it understandable and expressible to all. This means that the truths of philosophers are but their prejudices. Free spirits tend to thrive on independence and isolation. One major characteristic of free spirits is loneliness. One tends to face unknown dangers that other people may not understand. The failures and successes are entirely on them and cannot be shared. Loneliness is considered as a significant condition of a free thinker. According to Nietzsche, the knowledge of free thinkers is misinterpreted by others. Nietzsche adds that free spirits listen with an open mind (Nietzsche and Johnston, 2018). They run away from assuming that they know everything and open their mind to new perspectives and knowledge.
Free spirits are devoted to knowledge, which leads to committing themselves to foregoing independence and mingling with others. Free spirits believe themselves and focus on getting rid of the habits of wanting to agree with everyone else. Considerably it is true that they need to seek acceptance, and approval can take an individual out of their way, which leads to one silencing their real aspirations and desires. Free spirits are freed from the subjects of public opinion as well as mass mentality. According to Nietzsche, a free spirit listens and values their ideas and decisions (Nietzsche and Johnston, 2018). For Nietzsche, the free spirits tend to develop detachments since attachments tend to draw away the possibility of discovery and objectivity. To remain independent, the free spirits continuously test themselves and do not allow them to be attached to anything else, be it science, people, or nature. The characteristics of free spirits, according to Nietzsche, describe that they are people that are not chained to social conventions, customs, and stereotypes. They are people that tend to question everything to reach their won truth.
Second thread
2nd Question: Does faith allow individuals to carry out some great goals that cancel ethical considerations?
My answer to this question is: Kierkegaard offers a biblical story of Abraham, who was ordered by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son Isaac which was ethically wrong since that would be murder. Kierkegaard tries to distinguish between resignation and faith. Ideally, Abraham may have accepted to sacrifice Isaac only since God told him, and the fact that he believed God was ever right. Nevertheless, Kierkegaard argued that Abraham believed that God would not do something unethical (Kierkegaard, 2013). Abraham understood that sacrificing Isaac was unethical, but he had trust that God had good intentions. Kierkegaard states that Abraham agreed to act unethically since he had faith in God’s goodwill.
Considerably, according to Abraham, faith allows one to cancel some ethical considerations with the belief that God is always right. While sacrificing his son, Abraham performed a theological suspension of ethics when he agreed to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Although Abraham knew that sacrificing Isaac was unethical, he decided to suspend ethical considerations due to his faith in the morality that God would bring out at the end. Abraham’s faith that God will not allow him to do what seems to the unethical enables him to put his religious concerns over ethical concerns. Kierkegaard believes that ethics are essential in society, but an individual can only approach God through faith (Kierkegaard, 2013). If Abraham had not had a strong faith in God, he would not agree to sacrifice his son. Therefore, according to Kierkegaard, faith allows individuals to undertake some great goals that cancel ethical considerations.
