Nihilism

Addendum - More Seminal Ethics Implications

by Mark Singer

Tandem works include: "Seminal Ethics," "Kant Concept Art," "More Seminal Ethics Implications" - also on this site.

This paper includes the "Possibility Implications" of the Kantian, Machiavellian, and Nietzschean Ethical Standards.

Entre Carl Schmitt y Thomas Hobbes: Un Estudio del Liberalismo Moderno desde el Pensamiento de Leo Strauss

by Jose Daniel Parra

Nāgārjuna and Nihilism: Readings of the Ratnāvalī in India, China, and Tibet" in Sharma, Anita (2012, ed.), Buddhism in East Asia. Delhi: Vidyanidhi Publishers, pp. 131-144.

by Burkhard Scherer

This paper focuses on the first chapter of Nāgārjuna's Ratnāvalī. After shortly introducing Nāgārjuna's life and... more This paper focuses on the first chapter of Nāgārjuna's Ratnāvalī. After shortly introducing Nāgārjuna's life and works, the Ratnāvalī is discussed as a non-monastic discourse (addressing probably the Sātavāhana king Yajña Śrī Sātakarṇi) regarding its form, authenticity, content and structure. Then, the key concepts of Ratnāvalī 1 are introduced and evaluated: "temporary happiness" (abhyudaya) and "ultimate good" (naiḥśreyasa). These terms reflect the two-staged (lay and monastic) soteriology of Early Buddhism. By discussing the Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese versions of key passages, the wider debate about nihilistic (Lamotte, Wood, Burton) vs. non-nihilistic interpretations (Stcherbatsky, Ruegg) of Nāgārjuna's Mādhyamika philosophy is addressed. The paper analyses the central arguments against Nihilism in Ratnāvalī 1 and adduces corroborative arguments from Ratnāvalī 2, the Śūnyatāsaptatikārikā and the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. The conclusion aligns Nāgārjuna's thoughts with Pāli material and, in the light of these findings, the question is posed whether Madhyamaka really makes ultimate truth claims or defies ontology in favour of a more pragmatic approach.

AN INDICATION OF BEING-REFLECTIONS ON HEIDEGGER'S ENGAGEMENT WITH ERNST JÜNGER

by Vincent Blok

The Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, Vol. 42, No. 2 (2011), pp. 194-208

In the thirties, Martin Heidegger was heavily involved with the work of Ernst Jünger (1895-1998). He says that he is... more In the thirties, Martin Heidegger was heavily involved with the work of Ernst Jünger (1895-1998). He says that he is indebted to Jünger for the ‘enduring stimulus’ provided by his descriptions. The question is: what exactly could this enduring stimulus be? Several interpreters have examined this question, but the recent publication of lectures and annotations of the thirties allow us to follow Heidegger’s confrontation with Jünger more precisely.

According to Heidegger, the main theme of his philosophical thinking in the thirties was the overcoming of the metaphysics of the will to power. But whereas he seems to be quite revolutionary in heralding ‘another beginning’ of philosophy in the beginning of the thirties, he later on realized that his own revolutionary vocabulary was itself influenced by the will to power. In his later work, one of the main issues is the releasement from the wilful way of philosophical thinking. My hypothesis is that Jünger has this importance for Heidegger in the thirties, because the confrontation with Jünger’s way of thinking showed him that the other beginning of philosophy presupposes the irrevocable releasement of willing and a gelassen or non-willing way of philosophical thinking.

In this article, we test this hypothesis in relation to the recently published lectures, annotations and unpublished notes from the thirties. After a brief explanation of Jünger’s diagnosis of modernity (§1), we consider Heidegger’s reception of the work of Jünger in the thirties (§2). He not only sees that Jünger belongs to Nietzsche’s metaphysics of the will to power, but also shows the modern-metaphysical character of Jünger’s way of thinking. In section three, we focus on Heidegger’s confrontation with Jünger in relation to the consummation of modernity. According to Heidegger, Jünger is not only the end of modern metaphysics, but also the perishing (Verendung) of this end, the oblivion of this end in the will to power of representation. In section four, we focus on the real controversy between Jünger and Heidegger: the releasement of willing and the necessity of a radical other beginning of philosophical thinking.

Keywords: Heidegger, Jünger, End, Will to power, Method

Stereoskopie und Trigonometrie. Jüngers Methode im Licht des Sizilischen Briefes an den Mann im Mond

by Vincent Blok

Zarska, N., Diesener, G., Kunicki, W. (ed.), Ernst Jünger – eine Bilanz (Leipziger Universitätsverlag: Leipzig 2010), pp. 58-73.

Die Bändigung des Elementaren – Der Wille zur Macht als Kunst in Ernst Jüngers Der Arbeiter

by Vincent Blok

Existentia, Volume XVIII (2008), pp. 83-98

keywords: Nietzsche, Ernst Jünger, Wille zur Macht, Kunst, Elementare, Nihilismus keywords: Nietzsche, Ernst Jünger, Wille zur Macht, Kunst, Elementare, Nihilismus

Negation, Schein und Nichts in der Kunst in A. Bertinetto/Ch. Binckelmann (a cura di): Nichts – Negation – Nihilismus. Die europäische Moderne als Erkenntnis und Erfahrung des Nichts, Frankfurt am Main , Peter Lang 2010, pp. 217-232.

by Alessandro Bertinetto

Thomas Nagel and Absurdity

by Nicholas Smyth

Thomas Nagel has argued that our lives are necessarily absurd. He comes to this conclusion by arguing that there is a... more Thomas Nagel has argued that our lives are necessarily absurd. He comes to this conclusion by arguing that there is a set of expectations we have about our lives, and by further arguing that from an objective perspective, our lives fail to meet these expectations. In this paper, I argue that the expectations themselves are, on close examination, indefensible. Further, I suggest that the expectations are derived from a religious orientation, one which we do not need to accept.

Recensione di A. POPPI, Filosofia in tempo di nichilismo. Problemi di etica e metafisica, Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 2002

by Giovanni Catapano

«Rivista di Filosofia neo-scolastica», XCV (2003), ISSN 0035-6247, pp. 659-662

Book review. Book review.

Heidegger's aesthetics

by Iain Thomson

Törless and Nihilism

by Austen Haynes

The overcoming of nihilism in the novel 'The Confusions of Young Törless' by Robert Musil. November 2011.

Gianni Vattimo ante Jacques Derrida: La debilidad por la diferencia

by Miguel Ángel Quintana Paz

Reclaiming the mind. Het neoliberalisme als voltooid nihilisme en de noodzaak een nieuwe cultuur van de geest te ontwikkelen

by Pieter Lemmens

Te verschijnen in:
T. Bakker & R. Brouwer, Liberticide II, Uitgeverij Ijzer, Utrecht, 2012.

A radical freedom? Gianni Vattimo’s ‘emancipatory nihilism’

by James Martin

What scope is there for emancipatory politics in light of the postmodern critique of philosophical foundations? This... more What scope is there for emancipatory politics in light of the postmodern critique of philosophical foundations? This paper examines the response to this question by Italian philosopher, Gianni Vattimo, who for over two decades has defended the emancipatory prospects of what he terms ‘nihilism’. Vattimo
conceives the retreat of metaphysics as a progressive weakening of ontological claims and an opening towards new and diverse modes of being. In his view, far from an exclusively tragic experience of loss or meaninglessness, nihilism is a steadily expanding narrative that invites us to face up to our own radical freedom. The paper sets out Vattimo’s central arguments and contrasts the ethical thrust of his ‘emancipatory nihilism’ with the distinctly political take on emancipation presented by Ernesto Laclau. While the two converge on the withdrawal of metaphysics as the premise for a radical and democratic freedom, Vattimo’s vision remains insufficiently focused on the dynamics of contestation that a generalised nihilism implies.

Postmodern Anomic Disorder* (PAD): Understanding Gang Behavior and the London Riots

by Daniel Keeran MSW

by Daniel Keeran, MSW

The College of Mental Health Counseling presents an understanding of youth gangs, the London riots, Islamic terrorism, aboriginal suicide and other similar phenomena as possible effects of Postmodern Anomic Disorder* identified here for the first time.

If the paper does not yet appear below, you can download it here http://www.ctihalifax.com/images/Anomic_Disorder4.pdf

If you have any questions, comments, or upload difficulty, please contact collegemhc@gmail.com

The College of Mental Health Counseling presents an understanding of youth gangs, the London riots, Islamic terrorism,... more The College of Mental Health Counseling presents an understanding of youth gangs, the London riots, Islamic terrorism, aboriginal suicide and other similar phenomena as possible effects of Postmodern Anomic Disorder* identified here for the first time.

If you have any questions or comments please contact collegemhc@gmail.com

Nihilismo darwinista

by Antonio Diéguez

Published in TEOREMA XXVIII / 2 (2009): 215-221

The Role of puñña and kusala in the Dialectic of the Twofold Right Vision and the Temporary Integration of Eternalism in the Path Towards Spiritual Emancipation According to the Pāli Nikāyas

by Krishna Del Toso

Esercizi Filosofici 3 (2008), pp. 32-58.

This article shows how in the Pāli Nikāyas, after having defined Eternalism and Nihilism as two opposed positions,... more This article shows how in the Pāli Nikāyas, after having defined Eternalism and Nihilism as two opposed positions, Gotama makes a dialectical use of Eternalism as means to eliminate Nihilism, upheld to be the worst point of view because of its denial of kammic maturation in terms of puñña and pāpa. Assuming, from an Eternalist perspective, that actions have effects also beyond the present life, Gotama underlines the necessity of betting on the validity of moral kammic retribution. Having thus demonstrated the central ethical error of Nihilism, he subtly introduces peculiar Buddhist moral concepts (kusala/akusala) to purify the Eternalist vision from the doctrine of a real existing self (attāvāda) and from the puñña/pāpa dichotomy. We can summarize this dialectical course as follows: Nihilism is pāpa/akusala because it denies kamman, Eternalism is puñña/not-akusala because it upholds kamman from a non-Buddhist perspective, Buddhism is kusala because it admits the law of kamman not centered on a theory of a real existing self (anattāvāda).

Adorno on Science and Nihilism, Animals, and Jews

by Babette Babich

Original citation:  Babich, “Adorno on Science and Nihilism, Animals, and Jews.” Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy/Revue canadienne de philosophie continentale. Vol. 14, No. 1, (2011). 110-145.

Adorno’s readers are unsettled by the barest hint of anything that might be taken to be anti-science  Yet for... more Adorno’s readers are unsettled by the barest hint of anything that might be taken to be anti-science  Yet for Adorno, so-called “scientistic” tendencies are the very “conditions of society
and of scientific thought.” Yet his readers tend to refuse criticism of this kind. Scientific rationality cannot itself be problematic after all. Rather than science, it is scientism that is to be avoided. But is Adorno speaking of scientific rationality or scientistic rationality? 
Similar observations can be made with regard to animals (as Adorno saw them vs. his interpreters). And so on.  But overall, and in general, how are we to read Adorno?

The end of modernity, by Giannni Vattimo, translated with an introduction by Jon R. Snyder

by Jon R. Snyder

Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.

Ec(h)ology of the Désêtre

by Dan Mellamphy

Dan Mellamphy and Nandita Biswas Mellamphy in Reza Negaretani, ed., Collapse: Journal of Philosophical Research and Development VII: "Culinary Materialism" (Spring-Summer 2011), 412-435.

Written for the special issue of Collapse edited by
Reza Negarestani on the theme of ‘Culinary Materialism’ *... more Written for the special issue of Collapse edited by
Reza Negarestani on the theme of ‘Culinary Materialism’ *
(Collapse: Journal of Philosophical Research and
Development, Volume VII, Spring-Summer 2011)
and attempting to transition between and thereby
transduce the ‘Culinary Materialism’ of that issue
with the ‘Geo-philosophy’ of the previous one
(most specifically Nicola Masciandaro's
‘Becoming Spice: Commentary as
Geo-philosophy’), the present essay
envisions human beings as being themselves
the Spice, Épice, and Épi[ce]phenomenon in and of
a monstrous yet mundane meal: the existent entrée of
the earthly ouroboros, serpent or dragon (etymonline.com/
index.php?term=worm). With reference to the works of
Frank Herbert (Dune books one to six), Michael Moor-
cock (Elric books one to six), and Reza Negarestani
(his 2008 Cyclonopedia), Nietzsche's “Wille zur Macht”
is interpreted as the veritable Will or Volonté d’estomac[ht],
the veritable “estomac[hia]” of an all-consuming eco-
logical eater qua Tiamaterialist Metabolism (Nega-
restanian “Tiamaterialism”). The sand-worms of
Herbert's ‘Arrakis’, the dragons of Moorcock's
‘Melniboné’ and vermicular vectors of Negarestani's
‘Middle East’ all describe a drakontos and drakontological
condition: the earth's ecosystem as a “force of violent
destruction” (Nietzsche, Wille zur Macht §23) which
gives rise to a “mathesis and politics of decay”
(Negarestani, Collapse VI, 381). Earth’s ecology,
in the end (and/or from the beginning), is utterly
non-egological and non-egocentric: it destroys
and devours individual egos and edifices --
like Elric’s soul-stealing sword Stormbringer,
it is in principle and process a psychophagy as opposed to
a psychology, a “force of violent destruction” that in-
gests the individual ‐‐ all individuals ‐‐ and al-
chemically digests it or digests them;
‘Culinary Materialism’ tout court.
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[ note ] The description above
refers to the first draft of the essay,
which is the draft here supplied/attached.
The (re)edited version for Collapse VII
is the final rather than the first draft
(at least, thus far!) and is devoid of
Moorcock's Melniboné, amongst
other ingredients. For more on
the Collapse version, see the
Editors’ introduction at
http://www.urbanomic.com/Publications/Collapse-7/PDFs/C7_Mackay_Negarestani.pdf
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* Brother Theodore’s contribution to ‘Culinary Materialism’
can be found at http://www.youtube.com/v/dC0DYqQiaWw?version=4
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