Nietzsche - Nihilism Flashcards
Nietzsche was a nihilist and a pessimist. - True or False?
False
Nietzsche writing style was both…
Literary and experimental
Nietzsche did not belong to any…
School of thought
He was preoccupied with which states of mind?
Extreme ones
He was concerned about which existential problem of personality?
Authenticity
What is Nietzsche’s most famous definition of nihilism?
“The radical repudiation of value, meaning and desirability.” - Will to Power
According to Nietzsche the question “why?” finds what?
No answer
What are the three key types of nihilism Nietzsche referred to?
Religious, radical (passive/active), and complete
What is the term for Nietzsche’s response to nihilsm?
The Revaluation of All Values
How does philosopher Vincent Descombes describe the process of religious nihilism?
“An ideal is posited, and then opposed point by point to the reality of the present.” […]
“This ideal, though itself guilty of not existing, of being no more than an ideal, now permits us to accuse the present of having fallen short of it.”
‘Nihil-‘ in the word ‘nihilism’ is Latin for…
Nothing
Nietzsche believes cultures can be stronger or weaker based on what?
The reasons they give people to live
Nietzsche gives us an opposite to nihilism, what is this term?
Life affirmation
Nietzsche admired some of the attitudes of who in his early study of philosophy?
The Ancient Greeks
Nietzsche believed the beginning of nihilism was due to a disillusion with…
Christianity
Why did Nietzsche believe religion devalues life?
Because living ascetically in order to ensure a prosperous afterlife (heaven), misses out on the sensual pleasures life has to offer for an afterlife that is not certain.
Which era of philosophy appreciated sensual pleasures culturally?
The Ancient Greek era
Nietzsche’s understanding of religious nihilism doesn’t just cover religion, what other school of philosophy does he claim falls into the same trap?
Platonism
Radical nihilism is associated with which famous Nietzsche quote?
“God is dead”
Typically, outside of Nietzschean theory, what are the three types of nihilism in philosophy?
Cosmic, epistemological, and moral
