@boagie,
Pythagorean,
Nihilism is not a new wisdom,that is not to say, its day has not come.It feels very much like we are talking about people existing on verious levels of consciousness.It is assumed that on the lower levels where I am in residence,that this realization should be disastorus,in reality there was not much left to destroy,the culture or context had largely effected that distruction.So,Nihilism is the feared void and/or wasteland.For my part I don't believe anything will stop people from believeing in some transcendental caregiver in the sky.Would it not after all be better to take Nietzsche's advice and embrace THIS world, and ground revaluation of values in the real, and let the transcendent look after itself.
"In this sense of a political and social prophesy Nihilism is similiar to Marxism in that they were both held up as the possibilities of what the future would become."
This is a dubious honour for Nietzsche, Marks failed to take into account the curious nature of the human psyche.What will determine Nietzsche's oversight,not the same mistake as Marks would be my bet.
"In order to understand the scope of the problem of the coming of Nihilism we must consider exactly what it is that Nietzsche sees that will be lost to humankind. In other words we must understand the importance of metaphysical and transcendent meanings in order to understand what the loss of those meanings would entail. For example, what does it mean that "God is dead?"
The will to live is one and the same thing as the will to power,and life will find a way,I find it difficult to believe that something as real as nihilism, is as powerful as fiction.We will reevalate and ground it in the here and now, but fiction will aways have wings,it is of the imagination,an imagination which fellows a biological directive,the will to live, is itself creativity biologically grounded."God is dead," which means, the concept of the Christian god is incompatiable with the pysche of the modern man.God however appears to be a universal idea, spanning the ages and a diverse humanity,what are we going to do without a god in the meantime--------actually we are doing it--------welcome to the wasteland!
"Because ironically, the deeper that we contemplate the death of our metaphysical principles, and the death of our spiritual ideals, then the closer we come to a Nihilistic state of utter distress and tempt our own psychological implosion. (The very existence of humanity could rest upon a lie.) Nietzsche is literally trying to force a recognition of new Gods upon humanity that will come into being by the will-power and estimations of his new type of philsopher."
I am unsure of the gods Nietzsche intends,a little more reading required,personally I think the future belongs to a public of mystics,as there are always more possiablities in chaos then in form.I am wondering to Pythagorean,what the findings in the near future of nuerology will do to the false structures of being entertained by the human psyche.When we really start to find out what we are,what will that mean, sublime dispair or sublime wonder.
"We need to understand the
necessary role in human life of: ideals, purposive metaphysics, and values. And we need to understand the historical revolutionary process that has led now to the death of traditional human meaning."
This is a real chunk your tearing off here Pythagorean,I am not sure I am up to such a summation.I know I know,the longest journey begins with a single step.
"It is important to note that Nietzsche's alternative philosophy of perspectivism and his philosophy of power were essentially
positive in nature. Nietzsche was a thinker who above all said
"YES" to life. I might say that objectively speaking Nietzsche could be considered a Nihilist, but subjectively speaking he was ravishingly positive in that he 'justified' man's existence especially upon his (man's) ability to make values and to assert identities."
Perhaps you could expand upon Nietzsche's philosophy of perspectivism I don't recall coming across it anywhere.When you are speaking of subjectively and objectively is it his or yours-----just kidding.Actually though,don't you think there is something wrong with any philosophy that invests much in the JUSTIFIED EXISTENCE of humanity---who or what are we to justify ourselves too-------God/Nietzsche/The Self
"Historically, modern western civilization began with the philosophy of reason in the Englightenment and then began to 'degenerate' to a series of progressive revolutionary ideologies, some "right-wing", some "left-wing". Nietzsche was a "right-wing" revolutionary in the sense that he saw that what was coming was the end of all transcendent values and he wished to hasten the arrival of nihilism in order to construct his bare-knuckles
"YES" saying philosophy of power.
Nietzsche wields the power of Nihilism in order to destroy all traditional human ideals, all existing human values and says that Nihilism basically is the destructive principle that, "if it does not kill you it will make you stronger". He uses the destructive power of Nihilism to bring down 'false idols'."
Actually when you think of it, this nihilism gives about the same edge as that of Socrate's claim of knowing nothing-----like starting the scrap and then living the room,all will surely self-destruct.
