But what does Rosen mean by
nihilism? And how is it related to his critique of Modernity?
To sum up, Possenti poses again the problem of
nihilism from a philosophical standpoint closely aligned with the classical philosophy of being inaugurated by Aquinas and resumed in last century by Jacques Maritain.
This is a fascinating twist on the original theory of Nietzsche and can be seen to be immensely more aggressive; for if God's existence is too nihilistic, then perhaps Tarr is denying active
nihilism: that neither God nor humanity has any potential for creation of beauty and that both hold only the ability to destroy.
In Chapter 2, Dreyfus & Kelly suggest that this chronic indecisiveness and hesitation reflects our culture's '
nihilism', which they describe as the view that, in the end, '[w]e seem to have no ground for choosing one course of action over another' (15).
The first paper in this edition by David Storey, '
Nihilism, Nature, and the Collapse of the Cosmos' is timely, providing a much needed history of the word '
nihilism' and of those who have recognized it and struggled against it.
On their view, the revival of the Greek pantheon offers the most promising alternative to
nihilism.
In "Nietzsche y el debate contemporaneo," Senes touches on nihilistic appraisals of the Second World War and reviews positions held by Nietzsche (all too briefly, given his impact on how
nihilism would be viewed ever after, although Nietzsche does reappear intermittently elsewhere and in much fuller force in a later chapter entitled "Genealogia del nihilismo y contramovimiento: Nietzsche"), Karl Lowith, Leo Strauss, Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Hans Jonas, Ernst Junger, and Martin Heidegger.
The cleric said although the West is afflicted by
nihilism, "Muslims in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia are fighting with their lives to achieve this goal."
The novelist rebuked the "
nihilism" of the Islamic militant Hamas, which has called for the destruction of Israel and has fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israeli towns.
Nihilism in Palestine means "the sense of hopelessness" and the complete loss of a futuristic outlook that transcends certain demographics and encompasses large segments of Palestinian Society.
This is a collection of essays on Borges and philosophy, with contributions (in addition to essays by the editors) by Stephen Gingerich (on
nihilism), Bruno Bosteels (on Borges as antiphilosopher), Krzysztok Ziarek (on the "fiction of possibility"), Santiago Colas (on hopelessness and potency in "E1 Aleph"), Brett Levinson (on "El Evangelio segun Marcos"), Alberto Moreiras (on Wilkins and universal languages), Kate Jenckes (on concepts of law in Borges), Era Horn (on duels in Borges) and Lisa Block de Behar (on Borges's readings of Martin Buber).
Nietzsche's prophetic vision reveals the decadence of Western civilization and encourages men, with Zarathustra's messages, to cling to a new philosophy positioned 'beyond good and evil': 'God's Death' and 'Umwertung,' the 'Will to Power' and the 'Ubermensch,' the 'Eternal return.' According to Heidegger, Nietzsche's
nihilism is not only "the process of devaluating supreme values," but it is the "preliminary stage of a 'new' set of values"; therefore it is not a "total decline (Niedergang)," but a "transfer (Ubergang) to 'new' conditions of existence," in which men will be capable of loving life (amor fati) and themselves totally.