Nileism: The Strange Course of the Blue Nile

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Petrov K. ‘Strike out, right and left!’: a conceptual-historical analysis of 1860s Russian nihilism and its notion of negation. Stud East Eur Thought. 2019;71(2):73–97. DOI: 10.1007/s11212–019–09319–4 Political nihilism is the position holding no political goals whatsoever, except for the complete destruction of all existing political institutions—along with the principles, values, and social institutions that uphold them. [107] Though often related to anarchism, it may differ in that it presents no method of social organisation after a negation of the current political structure has taken place. An analysis of political nihilism is further presented by Leo Strauss. [108] uncountable , Russia , politics , historical ) Alternative letter-case form of Nihilism ( “ a Russian movement of the 1860s that rejected all authority and promoted the use of violence for political change ” ) In the twentieth century, it’s the atheistic existentialist movement, popularized in France in the 1940s and 50s, that is responsible for the currency of existential nihilism in the popular consciousness. Jean-Paul Sartre’s (1905-1980) defining preposition for the movement, “existence precedes essence,” rules out any ground or foundation for establishing an essential self or a human nature. When we abandon illusions, life is revealed as nothing; and for the existentialists, nothingness is the source of not only absolute freedom but also existential horror and emotional anguish. Nothingness reveals each individual as an isolated being “thrown” into an alien and unresponsive universe, barred forever from knowing why yet required to invent meaning. It’s a situation that’s nothing short of absurd. Writing from the enlightened perspective of the absurd, Albert Camus (1913-1960) observed that Sisyphus’ plight, condemned to eternal, useless struggle, was a superb metaphor for human existence ( The Myth of Sisyphus, 1942). a b Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta: To Vacchagotta on Fire. Translated by Bhikkhu, Thanissaro. 1997. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019 . Retrieved 24 June 2019– via Accesstoinsight.org.

Nihilism vs Pessimism: 5 Key Differences for Better Perspectives Nihilism vs Pessimism: 5 Key Differences for Better Perspectives

From the 20th century, nihilism has encompassed a range of positions within various fields of philosophy. Each of these, as the Encyclopædia Britannica states, "denied the existence of genuine moral truths or values, rejected the possibility of knowledge or communication, and asserted the ultimate meaninglessness or purposelessness of life or of the universe." [99] As with the original American historicists, they accept only historical references and deny all extrahistorical references, including those implicit in idealism and positivism. [...] They deny both authoritarian and subjectivistic nihilisms, and they affirm the responsibility of the subject. Er (Vattimo) konstatiert, in vielen europäischen Philosophien eine Hin- und Herbewegung zwischen Heidegger und Nietzsche". Dabei denkt er, wie seine späteren Ausführungen zeigen, z.B. an Deleuze, Foucault und Derrida auf französischer Seite, an Cacciari, Severino und an sich selbst auf italienischer Seite.", Müller-Lauter, Heidegger und Nietzsche, p. 302. In Russia, nihilism became identified with a loosely organized revolutionary movement (C.1860-1917) that rejected the authority of the state, church, and family. In his early writing, anarchist leader Mikhael Bakunin (1814-1876) composed the notorious entreaty still identified with nihilism: “Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destroys and annihilates only because it is the unsearchable and eternally creative source of all life–the passion for destruction is also a creative passion!” ( Reaction in Germany, 1842). The movement advocated a social arrangement based on rationalism and materialism as the sole source of knowledge and individual freedom as the highest goal. By rejecting man’s spiritual essence in favor of a solely materialistic one, nihilists denounced God and religious authority as antithetical to freedom. The movement eventually deteriorated into an ethos of subversion, destruction, and anarchy, and by the late 1870s, a nihilist was anyone associated with clandestine political groups advocating terrorism and assassination. Petrov, Kristian (2019). " 'Strike out, right and left!': a conceptual-historical analysis of 1860s Russian nihilism and its notion of negation". Stud East Eur Thought. 71 (2): 73–97. doi: 10.1007/s11212-019-09319-4. S2CID 150893870.

Baudrillard, Jean. [1981] 1994. "On Nihilism." In Simulacra and Simulation, translated by S. F. Glasser. The philosophical ideas of the French author, the Marquis de Sade, are often noted as early examples of nihilistic principles. [117] Media [ edit ]

Moral Nihilism and its Implications - JSTOR Moral Nihilism and its Implications - JSTOR

Seen through all these glasses Russia is judged, or rather misjudged, by the western world; no wonder, therefore, that it is believed to be a barbarous country, governed by tyrants, inhabited by a savage population; a mixture of indolence, ignorance, despotism, and nihilism, without one of the redeeming features of culture or civilization. Altizer, Thomas J. J. (1997). "Review: Nihilism before Nietzsche by Michael Allen Gillespie and Metaphysics by Michel Haar & Michael Gendre". The Journal of Religion. University of Chicago Press. 77 (2): 328–330. doi: 10.1086/490005. JSTOR 1205805.

Camus, like the other existentialists, was convinced that nihilism was the most vexing problem of the twentieth century. Although he argues passionately that individuals could endure its corrosive effects, his most famous works betray the extraordinary difficulty he faced building a convincing case. In The Stranger (1942), for example, Meursault has rejected the existential suppositions on which the uninitiated and weak rely. Just moments before his execution for a gratuitous murder, he discovers that life alone is reason enough for living, a raison d’être, however, that in context seems scarcely convincing. In Caligula (1944), the mad emperor tries to escape the human predicament by dehumanizing himself with acts of senseless violence, fails, and surreptitiously arranges his own assassination. The Plague (1947) shows the futility of doing one’s best in an absurd world. And in his last novel, the short and sardonic, The Fall (1956), Camus posits that everyone has bloody hands because we are all responsible for making a sorry state worse by our inane action and inaction alike. In these works and other works by the existentialists, one is often left with the impression that living authentically with the meaninglessness of life is impossible. Stegenga, Jacob (2018). Medical Nihilism. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p.1. ISBN 978-0-19-874704-8. Scholars of nihilism may regard it as merely a label that has been applied to various separate philosophies, [7] or as a distinct historical concept arising out of nominalism, skepticism, and philosophical pessimism, as well as possibly out of Christianity itself. [8] Contemporary understanding of the idea stems largely from the Nietzschean 'crisis of nihilism', from which derive the two central concepts: the destruction of higher values and the opposition to the affirmation of life. [9] [5] Earlier forms of nihilism, however, may be more selective in negating specific hegemonies of social, moral, political and aesthetic thought. [10]

Nihilism vs. Existentialism | Definition, Differences Nihilism vs. Existentialism | Definition, Differences

It has been over a century now since Nietzsche explored nihilism and its implications for civilization. As he predicted, nihilism’s impact on the culture and values of the 20th century has been pervasive, its apocalyptic tenor spawning a mood of gloom and a good deal of anxiety, anger, and terror. Interestingly, Nietzsche himself, a radical skeptic preoccupied with language, knowledge, and truth, anticipated many of the themes of postmodernity. It’s helpful to note, then, that he believed we could–at a terrible price–eventually work through nihilism. If we survived the process of destroying all interpretations of the world, we could then perhaps discover the correct course for humankind. Table of Contents He was not a nihilist, and his films were not only about emptiness but about the desire for fullness. Nietzsche characterized nihilism as emptying the world and especially human existence of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. This observation stems in part from Nietzsche's perspectivism, or his notion that "knowledge" is always by someone of some thing: it is always bound by perspective, and it is never mere fact. [73] Rather, there are interpretations through which we understand the world and give it meaning. Interpreting is something we can not go without; in fact, it is a condition of subjectivity. One way of interpreting the world is through morality, as one of the fundamental ways that people make sense of the world, especially in regard to their own thoughts and actions. Nietzsche distinguishes a morality that is strong or healthy, meaning that the person in question is aware that he constructs it himself, from weak morality, where the interpretation is projected on to something external.nihilism". Oxford English Dictionary (Onlineed.). Oxford University Press. September 2003. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) Amaro, Ajahn (7 May 2015) [2008]. "A Dhamma article by Ajahn Amaro – The View from the Centre". Amaravati Buddhist Monastery. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018 . Retrieved 24 June 2019. What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the advent of nihilism. . . . For some time now our whole European culture has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is growing from decade to decade: restlessly, violently, headlong, like a river that wants to reach the end. . . . ( Will to Power) uncountable , psychiatry ) A delusion that oneself or the world, or parts thereof, have ceased to exist. di Giovanni, George. "Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2008ed.). Archived from the original on 2013-12-02.