Human Development and Philosophy Essay Example

of religion when it comes to the modern society and his famous concept for the use of Superman (Nietzsche, p.8). Nietzsche’s famous statement was ‘God is Dead,' whereby he dubbed Christianity as a less meaningful force in the contemporary life. He fully endorsed an individual’s effort to emulate self-perfection, through a creative drive. He also acknowledged an individual’s effort to try and exist beyond certain categories of master, evil, good and slave.

Francis Galton’s view of human progress

He describes that an individual is gifted with extraordinary qualities. This may be because of a good specimen obtained from a poor race, or an average specimen that is obtained from a higher race (Galton p.1). His argument was that the degree of intelligence, as well as mental and physical characteristics, are normally inherited and biologically based. From this point of view, he came up with a particular concept under eugenics (Galton p.2). In this concept, individuals who were considered to have desirable characteristics underwent selective breeding whereas individuals who did not have desirable characteristics were discouraged from carrying out breeding. Galton argued that this selective breeding would result in an overall improvement of the characteristic of human beings, whereby he was convinced that individuals would be more intelligent, would have a higher level of strength and they would be less vulnerable to genetically related illnesses (Galton 7).

He also argued that a variety of aspects of the human nature can undergo measurements, most especially the intelligence of an individual. Galton used to measure intelligence by use of the reaction time tests, which were used long before the I.Q. tests were introduced. He argued that a person is considered intelligent

if he or she can quickly recognize or register a sound. He also argued that the highest degree of individuality can be determined through the examination of fingerprints. They can be effectively used for identification purposes. Hence this acted as a stepping stone for the use of fingerprints in forensic purposes.

Galton also described human progress in terms of population, whereby he argued that overpopulation may be less problematic once there is a significant improvement in sanitation and reduction in child mortality. He also argues that there is enough space on earth for the population to find a place to stay, hence decongesting densely populated area (Galton p.6).

Friedrich Nietzsche's view of human progress

Nietzsche's view of human progress was increased engagement for political action. He was totally against the idea of progress, whereby he undermined the key pillars to promote increased modernization, as well as the existence of faith, to enable an individual considered to be the strongest compared to the rest of the society to have a radical view of the system. He encourages a radical nature of critical thinking, and he makes an effort to draw a different interpretation through the use of the classical model to displace the idea of progress (Nietzsche, p.7).

He argued that life did not possess or lack intrinsic value, yet constant evaluation always took place. He also argued that the can be described as symptoms of the condition of the evaluator. He identified life as the will to power, or in other words, as a particular instinct to growth and durability. He argued that all individuals lacked this will to power (Nietzsche, p.3).

Conclusion

One can confidently conclude that the views of

Francis Galton and Friedrich Nietzsche's regarding human development were totally different. Galton supported the idea of progress arguing that every individual has got the potential to improve their quality of life. On the contrary, Nietzsche did not support the idea of human progress, claiming that human progress was more or less similar to political progress.

Work Cited

• Francis, Galton. Inquiries into human faculty and its development. Macmillan, 1883..
• Nietzsche, Friedrich. Beyond good and evil. Penguin, 2003.
• Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Thus Spake Zarathustra. Courier Corporation, 1999.