Acerca de este artículo

Product Identifiers

PublisherMIT Press

ISBN-100262537176

ISBN-139780262537179

eBay Product ID (ePID)23038291758

Product Key Features

Book TitleNihilism

Number of Pages224 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2019

TopicEpistemology, Movements / Existentialism, History & Surveys / Modern, Political

GenrePhilosophy

AuthorNolen Gertz

Book SeriesThe MIT Press Essential Knowledge Ser.

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight7.4 Oz

Item Length6.9 in

Item Width5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2018-043231

Dewey Edition23

ReviewsGertz's pithy, persuasive work usefully explains how nihilism can provide motivation for self-inquiry and creativity.-- Publishers Weekly --, "Gertz's pithy, persuasive work usefully explains how nihilism can provide motivation for self-inquiry and creativity." -- Publishers Weekly "This is a wonderful introduction to some pressing questions in philosophy, both political and personal. Those who would like to explore the interplay of Nietzschean ideas, existentialism, and postmodernity in the Western world will enjoy this book." -- CHOICE "[A]n engaging study that sets out to analyze various conceptions and misconceptions of nihilism. Any such enterprise has to survey the intellectual history of what today has come to be known as nihilism, and this Gertz delivers in almost exemplary fashion....a great starting point for the exploration of nihilism in its many guises." -- Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture

Dewey Decimal149/.8

SynopsisAn examination of the meaning of meaninglessness: why it matters that nothing matters. When someone is labeled a nihilist, it's not usually meant as a compliment. Most of us associate nihilism with destructiveness and violence. Nihilism means, literally, "an ideology of nothing. " Is nihilism, then, believing in nothing? Or is it the belief that life is nothing? Or the belief that the beliefs we have amount to nothing? If we can learn to recognize the many varieties of nihilism, Nolen Gertz writes, then we can learn to distinguish what is meaningful from what is meaningless. In this addition to the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Gertz traces the history of nihilism in Western philosophy from Socrates through Hannah Arendt and Jean-Paul Sartre. Although the term "nihilism" was first used by Friedrich Jacobi to criticize the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Gertz shows that the concept can illuminate the thinking of Socrates, Descartes, and others. It is Nietzsche, however, who is most associated with nihilism, and Gertz focuses on Nietzsche's thought. Gertz goes on to consider what is not nihilism--pessimism, cynicism, and apathy--and why; he explores theories of nihilism, including those associated with Existentialism and Postmodernism; he considers nihilism as a way of understanding aspects of everyday life, calling on Adorno, Arendt, Marx, and prestige television, among other sources; and he reflects on the future of nihilism. We need to understand nihilism not only from an individual perspective, Gertz tells us, but also from a political one., An examination of the meaning of meaninglessness- why it matters that nothing matters. When someone is labeled a nihilist, it's not usually meant as a compliment. Most of us associate nihilism with destructiveness and violence. Nihilism means, literally, "an ideology of nothing. " Is nihilism, then, believing in nothing? Or is it the belief that life is nothing? Or the belief that the beliefs we have amount to nothing? If we can learn to recognize the many varieties of nihilism, Nolen Gertz writes, then we can learn to distinguish what is meaningful from what is meaningless. In this addition to the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Gertz traces the history of nihilism in Western philosophy from Socrates through Hannah Arendt and Jean-Paul Sartre. Although the term "nihilism" was first used by Friedrich Jacobi to criticize the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Gertz shows that the concept can illuminate the thinking of Socrates, Descartes, and others. It is Nietzsche, however, who is most associated with nihilism, and Gertz focuses on Nietzsche's thought. Gertz goes on to consider what is not nihilism-pessimism, cynicism, and apathy-and why; he explores theories of nihilism, including those associated with Existentialism and Postmodernism; he considers nihilism as a way of understanding aspects of everyday life, calling on Adorno, Arendt, Marx, and prestige television, among other sources; and he reflects on the future of nihilism. We need to understand nihilism not only from an individual perspective, Gertz tells us, but also from a political one.

LC Classification NumberB828.3.G47 2019