Nihilism is a philosophical position that rejects all aspects of human existence, including objective truth, knowledge, values, and meaning. The term ‘nihilist’ is sometimes used interchangeably with the philosophical position of an atheist. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the philosophy is up to individual interpretation. In this article, we will explore the philosophies of Nietzsche and Camus.
Nietzsche
While criticizing the established values of society, Nietzsche retained an innate sense of morality. This way of thinking was the result of his attacks on Christianity, which he saw as a life-negating pessimism. In nihillism, he denied objective truths and values. While rejecting the idea of a higher, better value, Nietzsche maintained that there is no such thing as a better life than one without a sense of personal morality.
This philosophical stance makes life free of fear, guilt, or false sense of comfort. Instead, it allows us to see through suffering to find meaning and purpose. Ultimately, Nietzsche’s philosophy borders on existentialism. By rejecting the illusory morality of religion, Nietzsche argues that the only true way to live is to live in the present moment, and experience the world as it unfolds.
The higher-class human being exhibits a distinctive bearing toward others and himself. This incommensurability and distance from rank distinguishes him from the average human being. This is the true nature of a great man. He does not depend on external effects, such as wealth or fame. It is a matter of attitude and bearing. While this sounds like a contradiction, it is nonetheless an important point to remember.
Nietzsche’s philosophy of nilhillism also emphasizes that the will to power is the foundation of all action. It is the source of all motivation within the human, and serves as the foundation of change. In this light, Nietzsche created a concept of an “ubermensch” – the “superhuman” or Overman. That concept is central to the philosophy of nihillism.
Despite Nietzsche’s illiberal critique of morality, the author argues that the most important moral judgments are the result of psycho-physical facts about the individual. These non-evaluative type-facts are the primary explanatory facts. Therefore, there is no such thing as “value facts.” Moral judgments, in other words, are only images of physiological processes.
Camus
Nihilism was once considered a dangerous metaphysical idea. It entailed the notion that existence is meaningless and a leap into nothingness was a necessary step towards a better world. Camus is the human face of nihilism. He argues that nihilism has no place in contemporary society and that human life should be redeemed by creating new values.
Nihilis is a stance that entails murder and revolution. This is a form of rebellion that, he maintains, must be committed by human beings to combat death and absurdity. Nihilis is a philosophical concept that is important to understand if we want to find new meaning in life. Camus’ philosophy is not an easy read, and you should be aware of the consequences.
Ultimately, though, there is a broader meaning in life. Nihilis is a philosophical position in which the individual must come to terms with the meaninglessness of his existence, and accept that it is worth living only if one is able to create new meaning in the world. It is a difficult proposition, but not impossible. However, there is an alternative: the absurdist must face the silence of the universe and accept the reality that life is only temporary.
For Camus, nihilis is a philosophical question involving the meaninglessness of life. It is a question that cannot be answered by any scientific, metaphysical, or human-created explanation. As a result, he rejects all explanations. But he does allow for some alternatives. He suggests three possible responses to the absurdity of life. The first one is suicide, while the other two are denial and revolt.
In The Rebel, Camus explores the history of nihilistic and post-religious intellectual movements, as well as the role of radical politics and art in metaphysical thought. By examining the roots of nihilism, we can recognize how Camus reacted to various philosophical movements in the twentieth century. It also demonstrates the influence of existentialism, the Christian tradition, and the Marxist school of thought.
Camus’ philosophy of nihilism
Albert Camus’ philosophy of nihility argues that the existence of God, or the possibility of a God, is incompatible with the post-classical Western spirit. In his book Nihilism, Camus describes the growing revolt against the status quo in our post-classical world, where the concept of God has lost its meaning and force. The younger generation has grown up amidst a growing sense of emptiness, a world in which anything is possible. Camus argues that this sickness has caused modern secularism to stumble into nihilism.
The book contains a rich metaphor for nihilism: an image of the world as unreliable and ephemeral. In a word, nihilism calls for an end to the ‘world’ as we know it. But there is a solution to this problem. In Camus’ philosophy of nihilism, God is a metaphor for death.
Similarly, Camus views the existence of God as incompatible with human consciousness. This is evident in the metaphor of Sisyphus, who cheats his way out of the underworld and returns to the real world. His punishment is equally absurd, as he must roll a rock up a hill, down a hill, and repeat the process over again. The incongruity is unsatisfactory, and suicide, for example, is a form of denial of the problem itself.
In Camus’ philosophy of nihalism, people have three possible responses to absurdity: either they choose to die, pretend that the world is absurd, or revolt. Suicide and denial are forms of escapism, but these responses cannot be relied on as a solution. They are simply lies to ourselves. The only way to overcome this problem is to live absurdly and revolt against it.
While Nietzsche was a human ideal, Camus argues that the events of history have stripped the romantic element from the ideal. His novels, The Stranger and The Myth of Sisyphus, were written during the Nazi occupation of France. The events of World War II had wiped out the romantic aspects of Meursault’s rebellion. Thus, Camus’ philosophy of nihilism reflects the zeitgeist and his views of human existence.
Nietzsche’s ‘eternal recurrence’
Nietzsche’s ‘eternality of recurrence’ is a philosophical concept heavily referenced in his 1883 novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra. His character, Zarathustra, posited the idea of eternal recurrence as a thought experiment. He wanted to use the phrase as a metaphor to describe the supreme achievement of human development, the ascension to a higher state of consciousness.
Although Nietzsche praised a variety of values, his views on the nature of truth have been controversial. Many scholars emphasize Nietzsche’s apparent denials of truth. He claimed that neither he nor anyone else knows the truth, nor could any other person know it. However, he praised honesty and truthfulness as virtues. Nietzsche’s critique of religious values, for example, is often interpreted negatively.
The “Might makes right” statement was unappealing to many readers in the middle of the twentieth century, when most people equated Nietzsche with social tendencies. However, after the Second World War, the philosopher Walter Kaufmann fought a long campaign to recover Nietzsche’s philosophy and to promote cultural excellence. This campaign was highly successful, and Nietzsche’s ‘eternal recurrence’ became a popular philosophy of modernity.
This theory is also a philosophical one, and critics have long debated whether or not it can be true. Nietzsche’s idea of ‘the will to power’ arose from a broader intellectual trend towards biology in the nineteenth century. By focusing on the nature of the self, he argued that the will to power idea is an ‘eternal’ recurrence.
In his later life, Nietzsche often moved to improve his health. He lived in Sils Maria, Switzerland, and the Mediterranean. He suffered from intense headaches, nausea, and difficulty with his eyesight. Most likely, he suffered from retro-orbital meningioma. After he recovered consciousness, he began writing increasingly delirious letters. In 1899, he commissioned the translation of David Friedrich Strauss and other important works by Wagner and Schopenhauer. These essays became known as his ‘Untimely Meditations’.
A similar argument can be made for a cyclical universe, as Nietzsche proposes. He describes this infinite period of time as a cycle. In his essay, he attempts to focus the mind on what he thinks may be the real world. Rather than focusing on a singular world, Nietzsche posits a cycle of infinite time, which is a kind of punishment for previous wrongdoings.