When it is presented as a strictly epistemological problem, both Kant and Nietzsche are critical of the possibility of self-knowledge. Kant, in his Anthropology, issues a warning for self...Show moreWhen it is presented as a strictly epistemological problem, both Kant and Nietzsche are critical of the possibility of self-knowledge. Kant, in his Anthropology, issues a warning for self-observation of unintentional or involuntary perceptions of our thoughts and feelings, because this leads to ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘madness’. This is because of different forms of self-deception and the fact that Kant holds that self-observation should be observation of voluntary mental representations. With this warning, I argue, the risk of self-observation becomes a problem of moral psychology. Nietzsche also offers a warning or atleast a stipulation of the fact that ‘digging into one’s self’ might lead to hurting ourselves. Instead, Nietzsche argues for self-observation through ‘the outside path’ of the world, which we can then relate back to ourselves. This enables us to be self-creating individuals. In this self-creation however there is still a risk of isolation, but Nietzsche takes this for granted. I compare both thinkers and what I have laid out about their views on the risk of self-observation. I argue that both thinkers recognize risks involved in self-observation, but for different reasons. I also offer a Nietzschean argument against the warning of Kant. Nietzsche would and does argue that not everything we think is voluntary and that philosophy in general is related to the morality we aim at. This also goes for Kant and the warning he issues in the Anthropology, which Nietzsche would argue springs from Kant’s universal morality.Show less
In Japanese mimetics, a pattern in which expressions that use voiced consonants are associated with relatively bigger referents - compared to their voiceless equivalents - can be widely observed....Show moreIn Japanese mimetics, a pattern in which expressions that use voiced consonants are associated with relatively bigger referents - compared to their voiceless equivalents - can be widely observed. In order to examine if this trait is either language-intrinsic to the Japanese language or can be considered as showing a level of universality, an experiment with 54 Dutch speakers with no knowledge of the Japanese language was conducted. Based on a previous research by Haryu and Zhao (2007) in which Chinese participants were used and the association in question did not seem to be effective, this thesis aims to shed a new light on this phenomenon by instead of Mandarin speakers, using Dutch speakers as participants. Based on multiple linguistic factors, the Dutch participants were expected to perform better than the Mandarin speakers and the results showed this was indeed the case (75.1%). Therefore, the results of this research suggest that within the mind of a Dutch native speaker, the associative link of voiced consonants with relatively bigger referents is present and is therefore not language-intrinsic to Japanese.Show less
