Talk:Nihilism

Heidegger

Shall we recognize Heidegger's book on nihilism, Nietzsche IV: Nihilism [Edited by David F. Krell, translated by Frank A. Capuzzi, New York, Harper & Row, 1982]? It includes some pertinent definitions [my page numbers may refer to the U.K. edition, I forget; I'm referring to notes I took years ago]:

"Nihilism is the historical process whereby the dominance of the 'transcendent' becomes null and void, so that all being loses its worth and meaning." (p. 4)

"'Nihilism' is the increasingly dominant truth that all prior aims of being have become superfluous." (p. 5)

Heidegger quotes Nietzsche's definition from The Will to Power: "What does nihilism mean? That the uppermost values devaluate themselves. The aim is lacking; the 'why?' receives no answer." (p. 14)

As a side note, for my two cents I find the statement "Nihilism's most famous exponent Peter Kropotkin" curious.Jeffrey Scott Bernstein 14:14, 31 December 2007 (CST)

Please feel free to make those additions! Most of my article had to do with political nihilism, so more comments on ethical nihilism are definitely welcome. I don't remember where that evaluation of Kropotkin came from (i originally wrote most of this material over a decade ago); feel free to modify it. Simon Overduin 14:37, 31 December 2007 (CST)

Pardon me, but I should have originally framed my comments with the observation that your article is nicely done. Also, I guess I now understand (perhaps I should have originally) that the context for your Kropotkin comment was "political nihilism" rather than simply "nihilism" as a philosophical concept. Sorry if I was a mite annoying. Jeffrey Scott Bernstein 16:55, 31 December 2007 (CST)

Someone will have to track down the source of that Kropotkin meme, because I've definitely heard it too. The discussion of ethical nihilism should definitely incorporate Nietzsche's ideas, I think, though I think it's important to note that a) Heidegger's writings on Nietzsche are generally very poorly regarded, and (though I really like the quotation) b) 'The Will to Power' is a really problematic book to refer to, at least with out some serious qualification. Those things said, I really like this article! Brian P. Long 15:33, 31 January 2008 (CST)

Nihilism and Populism

I just wanted to note that I thought that the interesting discussion of Populism could use some clarification. My impression (from the article) is that Populism is a sub-movement of Political Nihilism, but I don't think that is stated explicitly anywhere.

I'm pretty new to the CZ (and am thus unacquainted with SOP) but would it make sense to fork this article? I.e., to have the Nihilism article proper be more or less equivalent to the Political v. Ethical Nihilism section (with thumbnail sketches of each) and with Political and Ethical Nihilism each getting a subpage. At present, the Political Nihilism aspect dominates the page.

One final thing is that I would be interested in writing a discussion of the influence of Political Nihilism outside of Russia, if someone can point me in the direction of good sources. I did a really brief paper at one point on nihilism's influence in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but had a difficult time coming up with research.

Once again, thanks for the interesting article! Brian P. Long 15:33, 31 January 2008 (CST)

Hi Brian, thanks for your comments on the article! Unfortunately it pretty much exhausted my current knowledge on the subject. It's motivated me to pick up and begin re-reading "The Universe Next Door" by James W. Sire, however, and you may wish to read the same for its discussion of nihilism. Enjoy! Simon Overduin 10:40, 5 February 2008 (CST)