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Since the mid-1950s, when the works of Samuel Beckett began to attract sustained critical attention, commentators have tended either to dismiss his oeuvre as nihilist or defend it as anti-nihilist. On the one side are figures such as Georg Lukács; on the other, some of the most influential philosophers and literary theorists of the post-war era, from Theodor Adorno to Alain Badiou. Taking as his point of departure Nietzsche's description of nihilism as the 'uncanniest of all guests', Weller calls this critical tradition into question, arguing that the relationship between Beckett's texts and nihilism is one that will always be missed by those who are simply for or against Beckett. ... Read more

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A daring marriage of philosophical theory and practical politics, this collection is the first of Gianni Vattimo's many books to combine his intellectual pursuits with his public and political life. Vattimo is a paradoxical figure, at once a believing Christian and a vociferous critic of the Catholic Church, an outspoken liberal but not a former communist, and a recognized authority on Nietzsche and Heidegger as well as a prominent public intellectual and member of the European parliament. Building on his unique position as a philosopher and politician, Vattimo takes on some of the most pressing questions of our time: Is it still possible, long after Nietzsche proclaimed the death of God, to talk of moral imperatives, individual rights, or political freedom? Are these values still relevant in today's world?

Tackling these crucial issues, Gianni Vattimo argues that nihilism is not the absence of meaning but a recognition of a plurality of meanings; it is not the end of civilization but the beginning of new social paradigms. Commonly associated with the pessimistic belief that all of existence is meaningless, nihilism, as a philosophical principle, is far less sensational -- it is the ethical doctrine that there are no moral absolutes or infallible natural laws, that "truth" is inescapably subjective. Because the conditions for equality and liberty are not "naturally" given, society must actively create these ideals or it will inevitably fall prey to irrationality, prejudice, and oppression. Vattimo contends that the infighting, timidity, and confusion that have overtaken contemporary liberal thought and politics are the products a prolonged and indulgent mourning over the loss of the transcendental father figure -- any institution or power structure that defines truth, knowledge, and reality. Until humanity overcomes its need for external authority -- whether it be organized religion, the nation-state, or free-market capitalism -- emancipation will remain unattainable. Collecting fourteen of Vattimo's most influential essays on ethics, politics, and law,Nihilism and Emancipation is a provocative reevaluation of meaning, values, and the idea of freedom in Western culture.

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A lucid and readable analysis of a beguiling subject.
This is not only the best work that I have ever seen on the difficult subject of nihilism, but it is possibly the most well-written work of non-fiction that I have ever read.

Carr begins by describing how nihilism became conceptualized and articulated with the onset of modernity. She then carefully defines her terms, clearly differentiating aspects or modes of nihilism (alethiological, epistemological, moral, metaphysical, and existential), in anticipation of what follows: a carefully considered analysis of the conceptual development of nihilism, as traced through the thinking of Friederich Nietzsche (for whom nihilism was the great crisis of the modern world, a terrific disease that threatened civilization, yet offered the opportunity for a genuine affirmation of life by wiping out false and outmoded valuations); theologian Karl Barth (for whom nihilism was the shattering precondition of faith and genuine religiousity); and contemporary post-modernist critic Richard Rorty (for whom nihilism would seem to be a welcome means of undermining or dissolving the oppressive power structures of the status quo). Carr concludes by convincingly arguing that the contemporary willingness to embrace nihilism wholesale as a liberating conception, without careful consideration of its more harmful potentials, ultimately undermines whatever liberating potentials it may hold, and, ultimately and ironically, reinforces the status quo rather than undermining it.

Carr manages to make a good deal of sense out of extremely difficult material; her work is highly readable and well presented. Recommended reading for anyone with an interest in modern western intellectual history or contemporary cultural criticism. If you are about to throw the baby out with the bathwater, this book will make you think twice. ... Read more

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Morrison offers an illuminating study of two linked traditions that have figured prominently in twentieth-century thought: Buddhism and the philosophy of Nietzsche. Nietzsche admired Buddhism, but saw it as a dangerously nihilistic religion; he forged his own affirmative philosophy in reaction against the nihilism that he feared would overwhelm Europe. Morrison shows that Nietzsche's influential view of Buddhism was mistaken, and that far from being nihilistic, it has notable and perhaps surprising affinities with Nietzsche's own project of the transvaluation of all values. ... Read more

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For too long contemporary thought has been dominated by a depressed 'what is to be done?'. In this 'postmodern' world all is regarded to be in vain, nothing is deemed real, nothing new is seen under the sun. Such a lament is easily confounded with an apathetic reluctance to think engagedly. This volume aims to inspire a return to the energetics of Nietzsche's prose and the critical intensity of his approach to nihilism and to give back to the future its rightful futurity. The contributors draw on the variety of topical issues including the future of life, the nature of life-forms, the techno-sciences, the body and religion as a way of tackling the question of nihilism's pertinence to us now. They take as their lead Nietzsche'ssuggestion that this world is a 'monster of energy, without beginning or end' without, for all that, naively assuming that this world possesses an infinite novelty or miraculous power of regeneration.Neither dully resigned to uninventive and ultimately entropic repetition of the same, nor believing in an inexhaustible fund of resources which will inevitably save the world from destruction, this collection hopes to encourage debate on the meaning of value at the begining of the new millennium. ... Read more

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This study considers the effects of moral relativism on the writings of prominent authors in the fields of literature, foreign policy, economics, social policy, education, philosophy and theology. ... Read more

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This book addresses concerns about educational and moral standards in a world increasingly characterised by nihilism. On the one hand there is widespread anxiety that standards are falling; on the other, new machinery of accountability and inspection to show that they are not. The authors in this book state that we cannot avoid nihilism if we are simply laissez-faire about values, neither can we reduce them to standards of performance, nor must we return to traditional values. They state that we need to create a new set of values based on a critical assessment of contemporary practice in the light of a number of philosophical texts that address the question of nihilism, including the work of Nietzsche. ... Read more

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Explores the concept of nihilism and argues that it need not imply despair, but can be responded to positively. ... Read more

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Divided into three parts - history, theory and praxis - this book examines the relationship between nihilism and postmodernism in relation to the sublime. Arguing against the simplistic division in literary criticism between nihilism and the sublime, the book demonstrates that both are clearly implicated with the Enlightenment. Postmodernism, as a product of Enlightenment, is therefore implicitly related to both nihilism and the sublime, despite the fact that it is often characterized as either nihilistic or sublime. Containing chapters on aesthetics and ethics, this book presents a coherent thesis for reappraising the relationship between nihilism and the sublime, and grounds this argument with frequent references to postmodern literature, making it a book suitable for both researchers and those more generally interested in postmodern literature. ... Read more

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This is a unique study, contuining the work of Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger, and using the techniques of phenomenology against the prevailing nihilism of our culture. It expands our understanding of the human potential for spiritual self-realization by interpreting it as the developing of a bodily-felt awareness informing our gestures and movements. The author argues that a psychological focus on our experience of well-being and pathology as embodied beings contributes significantly to a historically relevant critique of ideology. It also provides an essential touchstone in experience for a fruitful individual and collective response to the danger of nihilism.
Dr Levin draws on Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology to clarify Heidegger's analytic of human beings through an interpretation that focuses on our experience of being embodied. He reconstructs in modern terms the wisdom implicit in western and semitic forms of religion and philosophy, considering the work of Freud, Jung, Focault and Neitzsche, as well as that of American educational philosophers, including Dewey. In particular, he draws on the psychology of Freud and Jung to clarify our historical experience of gesture and movement and to bring to light its potential in the fulfilment of Selfhood. Throughout the book, the pathologies of the ego and its journey into Selfhood are considered in relation to the conditons of technology and the powers of nihilism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Levin is a real one.
This is a book to have. I am not thru it yet because I take it a little at a time. I underline. Levin can make you "get" Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty and their predecessors in a way they themselves simply could not. Who would know, from the title? It could be just another academic book. It was just luck that I bought it. ... Read more