The Concept of Nihilism and its Implications

This week we turn our attention to Friedrich Nietzsche. In this lecture I outline what nihilism means, and then turn to Nietzsche’s explanation of active and passive nihilism from his book The Will to Power. My overall claim is that understanding Nietzsche’s account of nihilism is an essential prerequisite for understanding his more famous concepts i.e. slave-morality, the repudiation of Christianity, übermensch, amor fati, embodiment, the will-to-power, and becoming. Once we can grasp what he means by nihilism, only then can we grasp the totality of his work, as well as it’s specific ontological and ethical commitments.

These lectures are brought to you by Staffordshire University's Philosophy team. Come study on our MA in Continental Philosophy via this link. Or, join our MA in Philosophy of Nature, Information and Technology via this link. Find out more about me here.

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