Sunsets and Constellations | B X B

• S E V E N T E E N •

^ That's Abby, if anyone was wondering.

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E L I J A H

"Friedrich Nietzsche and his fondness for aphorism definitely sets him apart from all of the greats in philosophy, he had a unique style of putting forth his ideas, and was frankly one of the most unconventional thinkers. What do you boys and girls think?" Mr.Rufus asked his class, flicking through the pages in his book.

"Him being unconventional wasn't a good thing though sir. Too many of his arguments are riddled with the 'ad-hominem' approach and most of his works remain controversial." Elijah stated, confident in his answer.

"The point is, that he thought differently, and I would even go on to say that he has made quite a few head turning, mind boggling cases." Arius shot back swiftly, from his place next to him.

"Yeah right, head turning and mind bogging in the sense that definitely wasn't pleasant to anybody."

"You're forgetting the point that Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini were fervent readers of his writings." Arius said, emphasising his point by raising his eyebrows ever so slightly.

"Exactly! How do you not see something wrong with whatever he's written? Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler were dictators and terrible men the last time I checked." Elijah said, exasperated at the brown haired boy.

"I never said that he was a good man, what I'm stressing on is that he was influential in some way, and that automatically places him with all the others, regardless of his views. Whether you like it or not, his name's right up there with Descartes, Kant, Erasmus and many others." Arius threw his hands up in the air.

"Name one good thing that he's actually written."

"The Gay Science was an eye opening work for many. He also shed light on Slave Morality. There you go, I've given you one more than you've asked for."

Elijah begrudgingly agreed, he had completely forgotten about those works and hated that Arius had won over him this time.

The whole class was filled with a new, electric zeal for philosophy and the likes of it. Mr.Rufus was impressed with their little back and forth and encouraged more of that to happen as often as possible.
The fact that majority of the class agreed with him comforted Elijah but that didn't mean Arius was wrong and that sucked.

"Alright, tonight, you'll be writing a mock thesis based on your understanding of metaphysics, I'm really looking forward to what you have to offer. You can do whatever you want for the rest of the period." Mr.Rufus said, sitting down on his chair and relaxing.

There were hardly twenty students in the class so it wasn't a big deal even if they made a lot of noise. There was a crowd around this boy and girl Elijah didn't know the names of, and they were arm wrestling. Then there was another boy who was always sleeping.

"So you've read The Gay Science huh?" Elijah asked almost timidly, turning back to Arius who was leaning back in his seat casually.

He sat upright immediately and looked at Elijah before he answered.

"Yeah I have, got a problem with that?" He asked, his defensive tone very similar to the one he'd heard from Abby.

"Not at all. So you're cool with gay people, asexual people and stuff?" Elijah dared to push the conversation.

This time, Arius looked like someone had thrown a bucket of melting ice in his face.

"I-uh, no I don't care, it's cool."