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Revenge, estrangement, nihilism. These are the main feelings identified by historians to describe the political culture and anthropology of the subversive far right, from the second post-war period to the years of terrorism. Social scientists have placed at the centre of their analysis the radical right's process of coming to terms with the grief caused by the defeat of the fascist regimes in the Second World War. The emphasis on pessimism, however, has pushed into the background the specificity of the elaboration of defeat within right-wing radicalism. The efforts of far-right intellectuals, in fact, had been aimed at overcoming 'nostalgism', that particular form of political melancholy, widespread in neo-fascism, which led to regret rather than overcome the fascist experience. In this perspective, the outbreak of global protest in the 1960s opened a difficult generational confrontation within the Italian far right. Neo-fascist youth movements rediscovered the myth of the 'fascist revolution in its original form'. The division even ran through families, opposing veterans of the Italian Social Republic with extra-parliamentary militants who later entered underground terrorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to create a semantic network that analyzies the evolution of nihilistic thought through three epochs of literary practice: modernism, postmodernism and contemporaneity. Following this, I propose that such a network can be constructed diachronically through the works of Robert Musil, Milan Kundera and Michael Houellebecq. Tackling subjects such as imperialism, migration, dictatorship, transnationality, I argue that the roots of their epistemological ethos lie predominantly in a nihilistic philosophy, a common core for these three authors. Therefore, starting from Musil's The Man Without Qualities, this paper will analyse how nietzschean nihilism and the ontological crisis is reflected in his novel. Consequently, through Kundera's novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, I shall argue that his postmodern nihilistic view can be articulated through Matei Călinescu's concept of epistemological nihilism. Finally, trying to expose the zeitgeist of contemporaneity, I shall explain how Houellebecq's perspective towards the individual-society duality in Submission can be expressed in relation with Jean Baudrillard concept of transparent nihilism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is controversial whether consumption can constitute genuine, existential meaning for the individual. Building on philosophical explorations of subjective meaning, this study suggests a dynamic relationship between existential and teleological consumption. On the one hand, consumers demonstrate deep-level engagement with entities in the marketing eco-system (such as brand narratives and certain service encounters) to explore their own potentiality and develop an authentic vision of the good life. This is existential consumption. On the other, consumers adopt teleological modes of consumption where products and services are used more instrumentally to enact their vision of the good life. It is proposed that consumer choice is existentially meaningful insofar as it is conducive to the development or realisation of the individual vision of the good life. The theory and its implications are discussed in the context of recent deterministic and pessimistic/nihilistic challenges to marketing theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nietzsche is the world's most (in)famous atheist, bearer of the monumental tiding of the Death of God. His works contain biting critiques of Christianity and, to a lesser degree, of Judaism as well. Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica [=RMY] (1800–1854) was a leading Hasidic master in 19th century Poland. Despite their seemingly incongruent world views and backgrounds, bringing the German philosopher and the Polish Rebbe into conversation bears significant fruit. The significance of my study is two-fold. First, based upon similar philosophical moves by both Nietzsche and RMY, I aim to establish a philosophical foundation upon which to create a secular religious space which, beyond the local discussion around Nietzsche and RMY themselves, is of vital importance in a world continuously divided along inter-religious and secular-religious grounds. In addition, I will sharpen what we mean when we discuss the "religiosity" of Nietzsche and how this religiosity may confront nihilism. I believe that Nietzsche's orienting insight that God is dead can serve as an inspiration to create a phenomenologically religious "space" devoid of metaphysical and transcendental assertions and that there is a Hasidic master willing to meet him there. The quest of RMY was to reveal a Torah bereft of "Levushim", that is to say, bereft of the familiar Jewish and kabbalistic mythical trappings. When the traditional Christian and Jewish myths which refer to a transcendent reality are discarded, the search for meaning is relocated onto the immanent stage of human ("All too Human") phenomenology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the implications of historicising John Rawls's theory of justice. While historical research on Rawls and his social context has provided valuable insights, some scholars argue that historicising carries significant philosophical consequences. This paper critically examines one such argument that contends that historicising Rawls's theory demonstrates its contextual nature, undermines its diagnostic powers, and leads to its complete dissolution. We offer a reconstruction of this argument and show that it fails. Further, while we argue that this argument fails, we go on to suggest that historical evidence may contribute to a defensive argument against appeals to expert opinion. By examining the appropriate relationship between historical research and philosophy, this essay contributes to the evaluation of the historicist critique and offers insights into the broader role of historical research in philosophical discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I propose a novel theoretical phenomenon, neonihilism, which follows a historical and theoretical trajectory from 19th-century nihilism and is distinguishable from another contemporary phenomenon, described as fashionable nihilism. Neonihilism is contextualized to a North American neoliberal capitalist social matrix, with meaning and mental health crises as defining features. I argue that neonihilism produces a sense of hopelessness in tackling the mental health and meaning crises when our neoliberal social matrix internalizes systemic inequities as personal moral responsibilities. Furthermore, neoliberalism has the potential to commodify the darkness of nihilism and transform it into fashionable nihilism, which further obfuscates the possibilities for resistance. I suggest a set of strategies for overcoming neonihilism by shifting from a science of nihilation to an art of nihilation as an ars nihil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reach of illiberal international propaganda outlets rests on citizens in democratic countries as recipients and potential disseminators. However, little research has scrutinised the audiences for such platforms. Why do audiences in democratic states consume content from such outlets, and how far do they actually align with it ideologically? The present research seeks to address this gap. Building on and extending the recent research findings of a large-scale survey, interviews with Swedish media consumers were conducted between 23 March and 13 April 2022, providing a unique close-up on a group of media consumers who stated that they consumed, among other alternative media, the Russian state-sponsored media outlets RT and Sputnik as part of their media diet. The findings, elicited through interviews and the Q-sort method, challenge previous research that presents this audience in a one-dimensional way. First, we investigate their alignment with different political narratives, identifying three different profiles. Although only one profile generally aligned with the RT/Sputnik messaging, almost all the participants appreciate the content and share it on social media. Secondly, we examine their rationale for consumption, revealing a diverse array of motivations, and leading us to theorise four distinct consumption profiles: Distant Observers, Reluctant Consumers, Media Nihilists and Establishment Critics. We interpret these results and discuss their broader implications, before reflecting on the complexities of characterising audiences consuming authoritarian international broadcasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nietzsche, düşüncelerini dile getirmek için figüratif bir dil kullanır. Nietzsche’nin edebi-felsefi vokabülerinin en önemli imgelerinden biri olan çöl, modern dünyanın durumunu değerlendirmek için gerekli olan uzamı sağlar. Çöl, modern kültürle yüzleşmenin mekânı ve Nietzsche’nin ona yönelik eleştirisinin aracıdır. O, modern dünyaya egemen olan beşeri durumu çölleşme olarak teşhis eder. Çölleşme yeryüzünün kaderi ve kıyametidir. Ona göre giderek büyüyen çöl kentin sınırlarına dayanmış ve uygarlığı yutmuştur. Artık herkes çölün sakinidir. Çölleşmenin nedeni ise Batı metafizik geleneği ve onun çileci ahlak idealinin neticesi olan nihilizmdir. Bu çöl salt fiziksel değil, metafiziksel bir çöldür. Metafizik çöl nihilizmin tecessüm etmiş hali ve Tanrı’dan mahrum kalmış bir dünyanın topografyasıdır. Nihilizmin nedeni ise Tanrı’nın ölümüyle varlığın anlam ve yönünü yitirmiş olmasıdır. Nietzsche’nin söyleminde ikili işlev edinen çöl hem bir felaketin imgesi ve hem de kurtuluşun mekânıdır. Çöl yaşamdan yoksunluğun, yalnızlığın, tükenmişliğin olduğu kadar kurtuluşun, yaşamın yeniden yaratılmasının mekânıdır. Ona göre ne bilim, ne felsefe ne de din çölleşme sorununa bir çözüm getiremez. Onun için çöl aynı zamanda Batılı öznelliği ve değerlerin ötesini düşünmek için başvurulacak Batı dışı bir mekânsal ölçüdür.

The article presents a comparative analysis between Roberto Arlt's novel "El amor brujo" and Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Notes From Underground." It analyzes the depiction of nihilism and social romanticism in "Notes From Underground" and the representation of modernity in "El amor brujo," differences in the degrees of anguish in "Notes From Underground" and "El amor brujo," love as a chronicle of humiliation and tyranny in both novels, and rejection of determinism as precondition for morality.

T he study interprets Alain Badiou’s philosophy using Vincent Descombes’ Le même et l’autre (The Same and the Other). We believe that placing Badiou in the context of French philosophy of the 20th century can show him in a new light. Descombes’ book forms an interpretive framework from which the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and G. W. F. Hegel emerge. We perceive Badiou as an author who connects two phases of French philosophy (postulated by Descombes): the period of the three H’s (Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger) and the period of (post)structuralism (Nietzsche, Freud, Marx). T he study will try to show connections, but also differences, between these concrete philosophies. The goal, in the meantime, is to shed light on Badiou, who can still be described as an (sufficiently) author who isn’t reflected, through the philosophy of authors who have already been reflected. We will move into the center of Badiou’s thinking through his inaesthetics.

In this research paper I focus on the question of the relationship between atheism and transhumanism. I expose the well-known thesis whereby atheism is a property of Western culture. At the same time, I show atheism as the real cause of the emergence of a multi-directional philosophical movement, i.e. transhumanism, drawing attention in particular to its understanding of man, to the dialectic it creates between the extant philosophical image of man and the concept of the “new man” promoted by transhumanists. This exposition of transhumanism concentrates primarily on the issue of “anthropological tragicism” that I detect in transhumanist thinking.

The article reviews the monograph by Kapitalina Antonovna Koksheneva, DSc in Philology, dedicated to the cultural and philosophical aspects of N. N. Strakhov’s legacy. The book under review is an innovative study that links the problems of nihilism and devaluing of the idea of personality, and the crisis of rationality in the European philosophical culture of the last third of the 19th century. The monograph examines the legacy of K. S. Stanislavsky in the context of the theory of “organic art.” The study is characterized by both new approaches and interdisciplinary thoroughness. Based on the concepts of understanding man and the national nature of the soul, created by Russian philosophers of the second half of the 19th century, the author defines the range of national ideals that N. N. Strakhov developed in “The Struggle with the West in Our Literature,” and which is fundamental, eternally relevant for Russian culture. The research of K. A. Koksheneva convincingly proves that only the metaphysical method allows us to understand the cultural studies of N. N. Strakhov and the circle of artists-creators and thinkers-creators close to him.

Postmodernity revealed itself, especially in philosophy, as a separation from the ideals that were overly exalted in the modern era with the supremacy of subjective reason. The nihilism, into which the world was plunged, became the object of philosophical investigations, making nothingness gain new meanings. Nietzsche and Heidegger were mainly responsible for such a change in vision and value. The article aims to understand how this process of change occurred as well as to identify, according to Gianni Vattimo’s vision, possible solutions for the imminent end that metaphysics and philosophy are heading towards.

On the War of Nihilism - - - Today, we can certainly be at least somewhat astonished and appalled that the rhetoric of war has become commonplace and enjoys considerable, if not abundant, public support, which can, of course, also be politically orchestrated. But we are also horrified by the violent war situations, which should—according to a more or less imposed belief—be regarded as a disgrace to humanity in the 21st century. The present paper is not concerned with diagnosing the nihilistic implications and complications of today’s military conflicts that are more or less visible, however much one may try to disguise them, but rather with revealing the eventuating of the war of nihilism itself, which, in the first place, nihilizes the very essence of the human being and obliterates the horizon of the world. The war of nihilism, though visibly threatening with total annihilation and destruction, is not directly transparent as a power over everything, and yet for nothing. This non-transparency has a manipulative character, which makes it impossible to mobilize against the war of nihilism, because it itself carries out “a total mobilization” in the service of the empowerment of pure power, that is to say, the power, which in its supposed “will-lessness” is strong enough to will nothing, and, above all, nothing essential.

In Pragmatist Semantics Zalabardo devises the main guidelines of a pragmatist semantics as an alternative to semantic representationalism, i.e. to the view that holds that the meaning ground of a declarative sentence is made up of the referential links that bind its constituents to things, properties and relations in the world. The paper reveals four assumptions that support the pragmatist semantics of sentences used to ascribe propositional attitudes such as beliefs and desires. These assumptions closely connect the expounded pragmatism with a nihilist semantic tradition that has shaped much of contemporary analytic philosophy, the connection consisting of the abolition of the notion of content as a constituent of a propositional attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an interpretation of nihilism based on the logic of nothingness. In the first part, I explore the mode of manifestation of nothingness, arguing that it resides at the core of the negative mode in which the Being of beings reveals itself: its withdrawal is precisely its mode of giving itself to us. To examine this obscure mode of disclosure, I distinguish between two different meanings of nothingness: nothingness as the total other of beings and Being as nothing. Following the latter and the negative and counterintuitive logic that it implies, in the second part, I offer an interpretation of nihilism. If in the age of nihilism “there is nothing to Being itself”—as Heidegger claimed—one may argue—with Heidegger—that this “denial itself had to become the highest and most austere revealing of Being.” This interpretation of nihilism may contradict Heidegger’s own often reactionary views on modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the concept of nihilism in contemporary American culture, arguing that beneath the apparent polarization of politics, there is an emerging nihilistic common culture driven by a destructive will to power. Topics discussed include the growing cultural divide between progressive and conservative ideologies, the decline of compromise in political discourse, and the increasing normalization of political violence and dehumanization.

Wallace Stevens's "Lebensweisheitspielerei," a late poem with a German title, exemplifies his spirituality of presence as it focuses on life as a concept. The poet's spiritual development gave rise to a spontaneous, improvisatory impulse to play that celebrates presence and calls into question the apparent bleakness of his earlier poems. Stevens's search for a "sun of fuller fire" is related to the Hegelian dialectic and Charles Altieri's recent attempt to secularize Hegel in Stevensian criticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haṭhayoga texts, influential in the development of modern posture-based yoga, offer a conceptual framework intertwining physical cultivation, health, and soteriological aims. This article explores two interconnected inquiries regarding early Haṭhayoga texts: How do they conceptualize health, and how do they perceive the relationship between health and soteriology? These investigations illuminate the place of health in early yoga texts within Hindu traditions prior to its global recognition. This article reveals that early haṭha texts present a holistic approach to health, highlighting the interconnectedness of curing the mind and healing the body. This process entails not only eradicating physical diseases but also the transcendence of all forms of suffering. The transformative process of eliminating the misleading self-identity (ahaṁkāra) is pivotal, leading directly to health. This relationship extends beyond metaphorical comparisons of healing ignorance and suffering. This ontological framework proposes a harmonious integration between the material and soteriological realms, viewing the healthy body as a physical manifestation of the divine essence. Thus, the emergence of the biomedical discourse surrounding yoga in modern times did not occur autonomously. Haṭhayoga, with its roots dating back to the beginning of the second millennium CE, played a crucial role in shaping this historical transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Wherever there is smoke there must be fire." In 1957, Aram M. Frenkian noticed that both ancient Greek and Indian philosophy makes use of the smoke-fire analogy as a model for inferential reasoning. He postulated that Greek use of the example reflected Indian influence on Greek philosophy which was mediated through the works of Pyrrho, the founder of Sceptisicm, who had accompanied Alexander the Great on his Indian campaign (327-5 BCE) and learnt from Indian sages ('gymnosophists' as the Greeks called them). More recent scholarship mainly shares his views. In the present paper, I argue that the smoke-fire example formed part of a complex theory of sign inference, and that not only the isolated analogy, but the theory as a whole which it illustrates is present in both cultures. Furthermore, the variants of this theory comprise such close and extended similarities that they must be the result of direct contact between Indian and Greek thinkers, although it is impossible to decide whether they stem from a common origin, or are the result of influence from one culture to the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study aims to clarify the meaning, the epistemic construction, and the pragmatics of the term āgama occurring in Pātañjalayogaśāstra I.7 and its commentaries. Since āgama is a linguistic construction, this paper is also a contribution to the inquiry into the philosophy of language of the Pātañjalayogaśāstra. The inclusion of linguistic-philosophical arguments corroborates the Pātañjalayoga system of philosophy as a śāstra text and its logical and epistemological paradigm. The structure of the present work is as follows: a first part strictly dealing with textual sources, and a second where the content of textual sources is discussed. Relying on the early literature ranging from the Pātañjalayogaśāstra (c. 400 CE) to the Pātañjalayogasūtravṛtti of Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa (PYV, half of 17th—half of 18th cent. CE), to āgama can be accorded two principal meanings: as a generic verbal testimony, and as authoritative verbal teachings. Grounded on the evaluated textual material, the second part of this essay presents a hypothesis aiming at the understanding of verbal testimony: in the Pātañjalayogaśāstra, āgama exhibits an epistemological, linguistic and psychological construction. In fact, as an epistemic theory of verbal testimony āgama functions following three main vectors being: (a) epistemological source and instance of valid cognition, namely a pramāṇa, (b) linguistically structured, āgama exhibits a propositional structure (vākya); and (c) a mental episode, placing āgama as one among the different mental events (cittavṛtti) described in the Pātañjalayogaśāstra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the unique practice of many philosophers in classical India to write on several philosophical and religious systems, each time adopting a sympathetic point of view for a different tradition. The article describes the development of this phenomenon in the context of interreligious debates between Buddhists, Jains, and Brahmins in the course of three distinct historical periods, transitioning from pluralism about views to pluralism about philosophical systems and culminating in the ideal of sarva-tantra-sva-tantra, a polyvocal philosopher and a polymath. Contrary to such approaches as nihilism, agnosticism, skepticism, and dogmatism, pluralism about views and systems was an attempt to justify the acceptance of several competing schools of thought. The article demonstrates that varieties of pluralism about views and systems played a role in forming and broadening philosophical alliances to defeat religious rivals, but also enhanced the scholarly reputation of erudite thinkers capable of "proving and refuting any system by will." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nietzsche's portrayal of Pyrrho is predominately contained in two of his notebooks from 1888, and they present a somewhat ambivalent attitude toward him. In this article, I offer an explanation for Nietzsche's variegated observations, and contend that his interest in Pyrrho is not really founded upon his radical scepticism as one might expect. Rather, it is Nietzsche's preoccupation with decadence in general – and its ancient Greek philosophical incarnations in particular – that drives his scrutiny of Pyrrho. I describe Nietzsche's evolving depiction of Pyrrho as one that ultimately develops into a critique, whereby Pyrrho is associated with a number of types of decadence, as well as exhibiting the characteristic traits of a decadent. I close by examining the cogency and soundness of Nietzsche's interpretation of Pyrrho as a specific exemplar of decadence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary times mark a fundamental shift in our sense and experience of the world. The postmodern condition — as remarked by Fredric Jameson (1991) and Jean-Francois Lyotard (1979), among others — calls for new conceptions of lived reality. Nevertheless, profound uneasiness with notions of space and time is not only a postmodernist obsession. Modernist cinema, on account of its aesthetic self-reflexivity, also grapples with ways of inscribing spatiality and temporality. The 1980s saw a resurgence of European heritage films, reminiscent of interwar years of empire (early 1920s–late 1930s), produced in Kenya. Out of Africa (dir. Sydney Pollack, 1985), White Mischief (dir. Michael Radford, 1987), and The Kitchen Toto (dir. Harry Hook, 1988) became global audience staples. Not only do these films perpetuate Western viewers' 'master-race' instincts; they also reproduce 'cult images' of an 'exotic' African locale. This paper phenomenologically reflects on White Mischief's nostalgic reconstruction of a colonial settler village, the Happy Valley, and its ultra-privileged white hedonists. It explores how materiality of physical space can aid re-inscription of time and vice versa. Turning the colonial gaze upon itself, in critical self-reflection, my analysis foregrounds profound ruptures, discontinuities and contradictions in the historical fact and experience of European colonialism in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores four crucial problems regarding wu 無 (nothingness or nonexistence), a central concept in Chinese philosophy: (1) What is wu, and how does it relate to you 有 (somethingness or existence)? (2) Does ‘you arise from wu’ (you sheng yu wu 有生於無), and if so, how does this ‘arising’ occur? (3) Which takes precedence in Chinese philosophy, wu or you? (4) Does pursuing wu risk leading to nihilism? Drawing on Saul Kripke’s interpretation of possible worlds, I propose that wu represents a realm of potential possibilities. I align with Kripke’s view that possible worlds lack actual existence but are anchored in the actual world. This view clarifies the seemingly paradoxical nature of Chinese philosophy: it is rooted in the mundane world while embracing a transcendental wu. Moreover, it helps avoid the nihilism that might arise from interpreting wu as a groundless void. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the experience of beauty and eco-sorrow with the aim of depicting some painful truths, as well as existential responses to eco-sorrow. The article begins by portraying the attributes of the experience of beauty, relying on an emended version of Christopher Bollas's notion of transformational objects and Buber's I–Thou experience. This lays the foundation for explicating the attendant experience of eco-sorrow, which entails the painful recognition of (1) the degradation of the Earth and a loss of beauty, (2) the extinction of other species, (3) human-caused climate disaster, and (4) existential insignificance and impermanence. The latter is further understood in terms of Giorgio Agamben's notion of the ontological rift, which is produced and maintained by the Abrahamic religious traditions and Western political philosophies. Recognition of the ontological rift, which is a defense against existential insignificance and impermanence, is a key part of the experience of eco-sorrow. The last section explores responses to beauty and eco-sorrow, such as despair, nihilism, forced hope/optimism, flights of fantasy, and, ideally, a categorical demand for inoperative care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the application of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy to literature, specifically the works of John Banville. It explores the concept of "virtuous egoism" in Nietzsche's philosophy and suggests that characters in Banville's novels embody this idea. The article also examines the theme of death in Banville's works and its connection to ethics and optimism. The document accompanying the article is a list of references and sources related to Nietzsche's philosophy, including translations of his work and books analyzing his ideas. These resources would be valuable for library patrons researching Nietzsche and his philosophy. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper I hope to cast light on Wittgenstein enigmatic remark, "one should really only create philosophy poetically". I discuss Wittgenstein's ambition to overcome metaphysics by way of an appeal to ordinary language. For this purpose I contrast "realism" in philosophy (i.e., metaphysical realism, particularly its modern scientific version) with "realism" in poetry. My theme is the capacity of poetry to provide a model for Wittgenstein's resistance to the inhumanity unleashed in metaphysics—exemplified by two distinct forms of skepticism—which obliterates the ordinary world under the guise of discovering its true nature. The poem I shall use to illustrate the difficulty in maintaining our grip on reality, hence our grip on our humanity, is Czeslaw Milosz's poem "Realism". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the philosophical perspectives of Nietzsche and Heidegger, tracing their analyses of the death of God and its aftermath. My aim is to clarify the diagnosis of this nihilism and its underlying causes, as well as evaluate the proposed remedies put forth by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Ultimately, I argue that the seemingly ambiguous consequences of the death of God are not only hopeful, but necessary, if human beings are to rise above and transmute a meaningless, resentment-laced existence, however, not by jettisoning Judeo-Christianity and its values, but rather by reinterpreting them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brauer (Philos Stud 179:2751–2763, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-022-01793-7, 2022) has recently argued that if it is possible that there is nothing, then the correct modal logic for metaphysical modality cannot include D. Here, I argue that Brauer's argument is unsuccessful; or at the very least significantly weaker than presented. First, I outline a simple argument for why it is not possible that there is nothing. I note that this argument has a well-known solution involving the distinction between truth in and truth at a possible world. However, I then argue that once the semantics presupposed by Brauer's argument is reformulated in terms of truth at a world, we have good reasons to think that a crucial semantic premise in Brauer's argument should be rejected in favour of an alternative. Brauer's argument is, however, no longer valid with this alternative premise. Thus, plausibly Brauer's argument against D is only valid, if it is not sound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I shall argue that the law of non-contradiction can be used to constructively reframe the univocalist debate. Duns Scotus argued famously that a term is univocal in two statements if its unity is sufficient for a contradiction. This logical definition was woven into his arguments against Henry of Ghent's (and indirectly Thomas Aquinas') view of analogy, arguing that all successful analogies must be built upon a univocal core. As early as the 1960s, this Scotist univocity had been singled out by French scholars and, by the turn of the century, had become the cherished whipping boy of Radical Orthodoxy, which claims that Scotus was the progenitor of modern onto-theology, nihilism, and secular immanence. While the genealogical critique in its fullness is beyond this paper's scope, it illustrates the gravity of the question. If the doctrine of analogy is coherent—i.e., if Scotus turned to univocity without cause—then perhaps his condemnation is justified. However—in line with the principle quod est necessarium est licitum (that which is necessary is permissible)—if univocity is necessary for successful theological reference, then perhaps the doctrine of univocity can be defended regardless of its historical usage. This paper will argue that univocity is latent in all successful analogies, commencing with a fairly standard analysis of Scotus' Ordinatio, then moving beyond Scotus to more constructively suggest that an expanded version of the argument from non-contradiction can help reframe the univocalist debate for today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relay translation of William Tufnell Le Queux's (1864–1927) Strange Tales of a Nihilist, which the prominent Chinese translator of nihilist fiction, Chen Jinghan 陳景韓 (1878–1965), completed based on Matsui Shōyō's 松居松葉 (1870–1933) Japanese rendering. By exploring the transcultural process through which a story of Russian nihilism traveled from Europe to East Asia, the author tests the translatability of the revolutionary structure of feeling across different cultures. The author reveals how English and Japanese media and literature inspired Chinese interpretations of Russian nihilism, and how a key Chinese translator channeled his own revolutionary commitments through intensive borrowing of traditional Chinese literary motifs and narrative devices. As a result, the Chinese vision of nihilism diverged from nihilism's Russian political connotations and was assimilated into a thrilling cultural topos of vengeful assassination plots in Chinese popular culture. Ultimately, this transculturation of revolutionary sentimental, which aroused sinicized emotions of love and revenge, not only generated public sympathy for nihilists in China but also motivated Chinese revolutionary actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This essay explores the theoretical resources generated by a critical reading of deconstruction with the theory of social death. Both offer accounts of life and death in which life is dependent upon a certain form of death. What to make of that dependency? And what would it mean to exceed that dependency, in the mode of deconstructive supplementarity? I work these questions through three examples: John Locke's account of property and propriety, Immanuel Kant's notion of the categorical imperative, and G.W.F. Hegel's description of world history. In each, I identify how the argument turns on a figure of the slave – an unremunerated rhetorical and logical element that, when re-read under erasure, fails to buttress the system in which it is deployed and instead destabilizes the argument and its historical-cultural politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nietzsche’s criticism of the masses could have looked hackneyed at the end of the XIXth century, had it not the originality of moving onto psychological and biological levels what others previously elaborated only at a social scale: a "herd instinct" explaining both the lack of social cohesion and the loss of possible individual affirmation in democratic and egalitarian ages. As he sees the utilitarian promotion of happiness and empathy as part of the problem, he fiercely condemns John Stewart Mill’s philosophy – as he understands it. Our point is to throw into relief that Mill’s theory of individuality is but closer to Nietzsche’s views for regenerating life against the spreading of democratic "nihilism". Our cross-reading of Mill and Nietzsche therefore aims at offering a reassessment of their antagonism and at highlighting ways of overcoming "nihilism" via culture and cultivation of the "character" and the individual surpassing of oneself.

Abstract: The text provided analyses nihilism in terms of the absence and ignorance of God, starting from the interpretations of Christos Yannaras and others. It discusses the transformation of European nihilism into a theology of absence, the denial of the metaphysics of God's divinity and philosophical influences such as those of Nietzsche and Heidegger. The nihilistic nature of the West is discussed, as well as the evolution of Western metaphysical concepts throughout history, including Augustine's interpretation and influences on later philosophy. It also addresses the concept of God in the philosophy of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz and others, discussing the transformations brought about in the interpretation of divinity and the relationship with rationalism and empiricism. Emphasis is placed on the contrast between Nietzsche and Descartes, as well as criticisms of atheistic theism and how natural theology has been transformed into rational science. The text explores the changes in philosophical thought brought about by philosophers such as Kant, Fichte, Hegel and others, highlighting their conceptual renovations. It discusses the theology of the cross and the meeting of religion and philosophy. At the same time, Husserl's phenomenology and Heidegger's existential-phenomenological ontology are considered, highlighting the differences between being and Being in the proposed philosophical context. Conclusions drawn include the affirmation of apophaticism in theology as an emphasis, highlighting how nihilism can influence faith and non-faith and how Western metaphysics has been transformed by the ideas proposed.

Béla Tarr's last feature film The Turin Horse (2011) begins with a prologue that narrates Friedrich Nietzsche's mental breakdown in Turin in 1889, which was allegedly prompted by his witnessing a cab driver brutally whipping his horse. Nietzsche's name is not mentioned again in the film, and the viewer is left wondering what connection, if any, exists between the Nietzsche story and the film's narrative. Scholars often refer to one or another aspect of Nietzsche's philosophy when analysing Tarr's film. Yet, to date, no comprehensive study has been devoted to exploring the connection between The Turin Horse and Nietzsche's philosophy. This article seeks to fill this gap in the literature. The first section examines the connection between the prologue and the film. In the second section, attention is given to the most evident connection between Tarr's film and Nietzsche's philosophy, namely the use of circularity and repetition in The Turin Horse and Nietzsche's idea of the eternal recurrence of the same. The third section interprets the neighbour's monologue in light of Nietzsche's death of God. Finally, the fourth section is devoted to nihilism.

The skeptical solution is based on two assumptions — the rejection of semantic facts and the denial of semantic nihilism. On the basis of the non-factualist interpretation of this solution, these two assumptions are reconciled by stating that meaning ascriptions possess non-descriptive function. Nonetheless, Alexander Miller argues that this position is self-refuting since, as despite its non-descriptivism, by rejecting any kind of semantic facts, it inevitably leads to semantic nihilism. In this text, I demonstrate that Miller's argument is not sound. I argue that a coherent non-factualist way of formulating the conditions of correct use of meaning ascriptions may be performed by rejecting the closure principle of assertibility of meaning ascriptions. On this basis, I demonstrate that argument formulated against non-factualist interpretation by Miller may be refuted. What is more, I argue that rejection of the closure principle should be regarded as the central aspect of Kripke's skeptical solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the death of God narrative through the lens of kenosis, drawing insights from thinkers such as Marcel, Heidegger, Vattimo, and Girard. It investigates the implications of kenotic thought for contemporary religious and philosophical discourse, exploring various interpretations of kenosis, ranging from Altizer and Žižek's apocalyptic views to Vattimo's more hopeful perspective. Through critical engagement with these viewpoints, this paper advocates for a nuanced understanding of kenosis inspired by Hegel, one that bypasses both radical theology and excessive optimism. Methodologically, this study adopts a hermeneutic approach, analyzing key texts and engaging in philosophical dialogue. This paper concludes that rethinking kenotic thought could provide a robust framework for grappling with the death of God in the contemporary context, offering avenues for ethical reflection, social critique, and speculative renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenal socialism says that what we actually, directly, literally perceive is only or primarily instances of high-level phenomenal properties; this paper argues for phenomenal socialism in the weaker, primarily version. Phenomenal socialism is the philosophy of perception that goes with recognitionalism, which is the metaethics that goes with epiphanies. The first part states the recognitionalist manifesto. The second part situates this manifesto relative to some more global concerns, about naturalism, perception, the metaphysics of value, and theory vs. anti-theory in ethics. The third part rehearses two familiar views about the possible contents of perceptual experience, Phenomenal Conservativism and Phenomenal Liberalism. It notes that the usual catalogue omits two other theoretical possibilities, Phenomenal Socialism and Phenomenal Nihilism, and it defends a watered-down form of Phenomenal Socialism from four main objections. The fourth part makes some connections with the epistemology of modality and with the role of the imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a hermeneutic study of Heidegger's text The Word of Nietzsche: "God is Dead". We attempt to read Heidegger's remarks in the context of the "period of transition" that, according to Nietzsche, is occurring in the history of western thought and culture. This essay unfolds in the following manner: beginning with Heidegger's contention that Nietzsche's philosophy is the "fulfilment" of Platonism, we go over the problem of nihilism in relation to the metaphysics of the will to power, which for Heidegger requires revising Cartesian subjectivity in search of a new ontology. Heidegger's critique of modernity encompasses a narrative that goes from "Plato" to "Nietzsche", leading to a reconsideration of the notions of art and truth. Finally, we attempt to interpret the meaning of the "madman's lament" voicing the passing of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Béla Tarr’s last feature film The Turin Horse (2011) begins with a prologue that narrates Friedrich Nietzsche’s mental breakdown in Turin in 1889, which was allegedly prompted by his witnessing a cab driver brutally whipping his horse. Nietzsche’s name is not mentioned again in the film, and the viewer is left wondering what connection, if any, exists between the Nietzsche story and the film’s narrative. Scholars often refer to one or another aspect of Nietzsche’s philosophy when analysing Tarr’s film. Yet, to date, no comprehensive study has been devoted to exploring the connection between The Turin Horse and Nietzsche’s philosophy. This article seeks to fill this gap in the literature. The first section examines the connection between the prologue and the film. In the second section, attention is given to the most evident connection between Tarr’s film and Nietzsche’s philosophy, namely the use of circularity and repetition in The Turin Horse and Nietzsche’s idea of the eternal recurrence of the same. The third section interprets the neighbour’s monologue in light of Nietzsche’s death of God. Finally, the fourth section is devoted to nihilism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Samuel Beckett as a dramatist is well-known with his contributions to the landscape of British theatre. His plays reverberate with voices of traumatized, marginalized and war-stricken characters, which function as an implicit criticism of the turbulent atmosphere of the 1900s. When Beckett addresses the problems of his time in a covert way, the playwright deconstructs conventional elements of drama by specifying no plot, no setting or no theme. This Beckettian style also becomes manifest in his use of language which is characterized by the presence of segmented structures, pauses, ellipses and even silence. Considering these tenets of Beckettian drama, the thematic concerns of his theatrical productions are assumed to primarily revolve around the issues of nihilism, language, and ontology. Therefore, Beckett's plays are thought to be read through the lenses of distinguished theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Jacques Lacan and Julia Kristeva. From among these theorists, the concepts of the semiotic, the symbolic and the semiotic chora of Julia Kristeva as a poststructuralist thinker provide a fertile ground for a theoretical reading of Beckett's play Not I (1972). Relevantly, this paper principally examines the applicability of Kristeva's "semiotic chora" into Beckett's Not I in all aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The first season of Ted Lasso (2020–23) was filmed in 2019, before the outbreak of COVID-19, and released on Apple TV+ in August 2020, while much of the world was still in various stages of lockdown. The series has been praised by many critics and scholars for its focus on reconstructed masculinity, healing and kindness, set against the backdrop of British football. These themes have contributed to the perception that the show's success was due to it espousing uplifting and positive feelings that were needed escapism during this unprecedented global experience, which was greatly informed by apocalyptic discourse. This article thus examines Ted Lasso not as escapism or as utopianism, but as a regenerative apocalyptic narrative in which many of the traumas of the real world are confronted and transformed. Close-textual analysis focuses on the characters of Rebecca Welton and Ted Lasso's intersecting narratives of trauma and reconstruction to reframe an understanding of the apocalypse away from the global to the personal. I use this analysis to demonstrate how the series uses an apocalyptic framework to offer a path through trauma towards a culture of regeneration. Rather than providing an escape, I argue that the series offered audiences the tools to negotiate the complexities of a COVID-world. The article consequently shows how Ted Lasso represents an alternative apocalyptic narrative that undermines nihilism in favour of 'the Lasso way'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the problem of social inequality in the Western cultural and civilizational paradigm. It is noted that in the history of Western philosophy and culture, there have always been two different approaches to understanding inequality. The first path of elitism involved the apology for inequality, proposing ideas of aristocracy (inequality within a single society) or racial domination (inequality between peoples and civilizations). This philosophical tradition can be called traditional-authoritarian (Plato, Aristotle) or romantic-conservative (H. Chamberlain). The second way is egalitarian, which insists on creating a society built on the idea of equality (the philosophy of liberalism and Marxism). If representatives of the liberal wing of egalitarianism (Locke, Bentham) focus on the justification of a society of equal opportunities with an emphasis on natural human rights, the tradition of Marxism tends to consider social contradictions caused by inequality as antagonistic. Therefore, protest, revolution, rebellion become a specifically Western way of eradicating inequality (Marx, Camus). At the same time, the article notes that the deep worldview basis of this way of solving the problem of inequality is the nihilistic nature of Western civilization, its "Faustian spirit" (Spengler). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osamu Dazai, one of the most prominent Japanese writers is known for his introspective writing style and existential angst. No Longer Human which means 'Disqualified as a human being' is a Japanese modern fiction published in 1948. It is considered as the final work of Osamu Dazai before his suicide. The work depicts Dazai's own life through the eyes of protagonist Oba Yozo. Dazai's works often explores the themes of human suffering, isolation, identity crisis and sense of despair. Dazai shows strong inclination towards existentialist and nihilist explication of human suffering. The novel is powerful exploration of an individual's existential crisis. It traces Yozo's development of experiences and his perception from his childhood to adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyse and critique Aribiah David Attoe’s position in The Question of Life’s Meaning: An African Perspective. While highly sympathetic to his project, since I also defend an evaluatively neutral form of nihilism, I argue that the role of death and indifference within his theory is incompatible with thinking of nihilism in a neutral manner, and that his position wavers between the traditional view of Negative Nihilism and the Neutral Nihilism I recommend. In reconstructing his position, I begin by arguing, on historicist grounds, that the meaning-realism Attoe has adopted from Thaddeus Metz and others is implausible, and that Attoe’s account of meaning in life appears in a much more favourable light when construed as a project of conceptual engineering. After explaining why Attoe thinks that death establishes nihilism and undermines the significance of meaning in life, I argue that the only real connection between nihilism and death is a historical one. I conclude that Attoe’s neutrality about nihilism should not lead him to indifference about life, since it is only nihilism that he should be neutral about. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]