Different concepts in philosophy have shown the changes and development that has taken place over time. This paper seeks to discuss different aspects of philosophical thought and how the show development over time. In the first concept is the concept of hero and saint in the emergence of romanticism. The concept of hero is seen in a romantic hero which at the time this was a protagonist who despite having flaws was still in a position of leadership. A good example of a romantic hero is Dante in ‘Divine comedy’. He feels lost in what is considered a norm in the society but he later goes on to achieve salvation and realizes that sin ought to be punished and he therefore lives a life of goodness even though it requires him to disobey the norms of society. Sainthood over time has also changed from people comparing saints to Greek heroes who were immortal to now being considered similar to romantic heroism where saints can fail to follow societal norms and maintain leadership positions by practicing goodness.
In the agony and ecstasy Michelangelo believed in the strength of religious affiliations in his work and he recognized that God had plan for him even though he experienced a lot of stress trying to get his artwork recognized(Joannides, 2007). He greatly felt that God was not going to abandon him. This form of thought can also be seen in this era where people continue to highly rely on God for strength and this belief has enabled majority of people not to give in to disappointments in life.
When it comes to enlightenment and cultural mutations at first it was an era of acquisition of knowledge and information and this spread of knowledge was headed by intelligent scholars who had a significant reputation. However with enlightenment and cultural mutation came the dark side which involved groups like free masons and convulsionists who tended to preach celibacy as well as cult like groups like Cagliostro. The leaders in these cultic groups claimed to be involved with enlightening people just like philosophers were doing at the time. However, over time in the recent century science has become more famous with sciences such as psychology coming up which gives very different notions as compared to those found in pseudoscientific notions. Science has therefore developed as compared to the era of enlightenment and cultural mutation.
Abraham’s portrayal as a knight of faith by Kierkegaard is true though contentious depending on one’s perspective. The essence of the this concept lies in the fact that the night of faith has to have a moral stance important to himself or some sort of personal commitment that they feel they are obliged to and they don’t necessarily have to share or give an explanation to others about. Abraham in this case was mean to sacrifice his son. However, he told nobody. Not even the son knew about what was intended to happen to him. The concept of Abraham being a knight of faith comes in whereby he feels obliged to make the sacrifice considering the fact that he might not see his son any longer in his lifetime. However, Abraham felt he had to do this. He had a strong conviction about his actions and decided he was going to live up to what he thought was right and not say anything to others who might have crated or brought doubt into his head. However there is a contention with this portrayal since Abraham was acting according to what he believed was right. Depending on the faith of the people around Abraham this concept may or may not suffice. i.e. if those around him shared the same faith and believed he ought to do as God told him, then not sacrificing would have been wrong and there would have been no ethical dispute. However since he was the only one who heard from God, the concept holds water in that he has to do something that is considered atrocious but has no chance or opportunity to explain to anyone the reasons. He just does it because he believes it’s the best thing to do even though he probably didn’t understand why he was going through with it in the first place.
Reference
Joannides, P. (2007). The Drawings of Michaelangelo and His Followers in the Ashmolean Museam. Art History.
