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Philosophy For Our Times
Does life have meaning? PART 3: Nolen Gertz on nihilism part two
Aug 23, 2024
Nolen Gertz, an Associate Professor of Applied Philosophy at the University of Twente, delves into the complexities of nihilism. He discusses its historical evolution, challenging the notion that nihilism is merely a bleak outlook. Gertz highlights how understanding nihilism can enhance our engagement with technology and existential queries. He also connects Nietzsche's thoughts on nihilism to contemporary issues like societal isolation and the search for meaning in a disjointed world, encouraging listeners to rethink their perceptions of belief and knowledge.
14:28
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Quick takeaways
- Nolen Gertz explores nihilism not merely as a hopeless outlook but as an opportunity for deeper self-exploration in a technological world.
- The historical roots of nihilism highlight the danger of prioritizing the afterlife over authentic living, leading to contemporary existential mediocrity.
Deep dives
The Nature of Cause and Effect
The podcast delves into the philosophical debate surrounding cause and effect, highlighting the viewpoints of Descartes and Hume. Descartes believes in a distinct grounding for knowledge through cause and effect, while Hume counters that such connections are not guaranteed and rely on inductive reasoning. Hume illustrates this by using the example of billiards, suggesting that one can only note that events follow one another without truly understanding why. This line of thinking leads to a sense of uncertainty about the predictability of events in the universe.
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