A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century

Confrontations with Nothingness

Inbunden, Engelska, 2023

Av Jon Stewart, Jon (Slovak Academy of Sciences) Stewart

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Nihilism - the belief that life is meaningless - is frequently associated with twentieth-century movements such as existentialism, postmodernism and Dadaism, and thought to result from the shocking experiences of the two World Wars and the Holocaust. In his rich and expansive new book, Jon Stewart shows that nihilism's beginnings in fact go back much further to the first half of the nineteenth century. He argues that the true origin of modern nihilism was the rapid development of Enlightenment science, which established a secular worldview. This radically diminished the importance of human beings so that, in the vastness of space and time, individuals now seemed completely insignificant within the universe. The author's panoramic exploration of how nihilism developed - not only in philosophy, but also in religion, poetry and literature - shows what an urgent topic it was for thinkers of all kinds, and how it has continued powerfully to shape intellectual debates ever since.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2023-03-30
Mått161 x 236 x 23 mm
Vikt590 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor336
FörlagCambridge University Press
ISBN9781009266703

Tillhör följande kategorier

Religion: allmänt inom Filosofi och religion
Litteraturvetenskap inom Skonlitteratur
Filosofiska discipliner inom Filosofi och religion
Kulturvetenskap inom Samhalle och politik

Jon Stewart is a Research Fellow in the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovak Academy of Sciences. He is the author of many books, most recently An Introduction to Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion: The Issue of Religious Content in the Enlightenment and Romanticism (2022) and Hegel's Century: Alienation and Recognition in a Time of Revolution (Cambridge University Press, 2021), which was the Philosophy category prizewinner in the 2021 PROSE Awards.

Introduction; 1. Jean Paul's Vision of Nihilism and Plea for the Doctrine of Immortality; 2. Klingemann and the Absurdity of Nothingness in The Nightwatches; 3. Nihilism in English Romanticism: Byron and Shelley; 4. Schopenhauer's Theory of Human Suffering and Lack of Meaning; 5. Büchner's Account of the Reign of Terror as a Mirror of Human Existence; 6. Poul Martin Møller's Criticism of Hegelianism and the Danish Discussion of Nihilism; 7. Kierkegaard and the Indefinability and Inexplicability of Death; 8. Turgenev's Portrait of a Nihilist; 9. Nietzsche's Vision of the Past and the Future of Nihilism; 10. The Importance of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century.

'Jon Stewart's A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century presents a remarkable new interpretation of the development of thinking about the problem of the meaninglessness of the human condition that is referred to as nihilism. This concept is usually associated with twentieth-century existentialism, but Stewart traces how the crisis of meaning arose far earlier, namely as a result of the development of Enlightenment science which undermined traditional religious belief. Insight after insight is gained into the different dimensions of nihilism by means of close readings of key thinkers and writers of the nineteenth century. In experiencing the amazing amplitude of scope of the source-critical work and the creative interpretive turns that come as the narrative unfolds, one senses being in the presence of an author of significant humanity and erudition.' Curtis L. Thompson, Thiel College