Moral Nihilism Research Articles

Reclaiming Moral Nihilism

Reclaiming Moral Nihilism

Теоретики русского народничества о проблеме нравственной автономии личности

Introduction. The article analyzes the works of Russian populists, which contain a socio-philosophical solution to the problem of moral autonomy of the individual. Theoretical analysis. The socio-philosophical ideal of populist thought was closely connected with the theory of organizing a fair society based on the pattern of social solidarity, which implies socially responsible behavior of citizens who respect other people’s rights and act in the interests of human liberation. Individual autonomy can be achieved through various methods of liberation: through labor activity and the practice of cooperation, socio-political activity in the direction of realizing the social ideal of conscious solidarity. The moral autonomy of the individual, therefore, does not imply moral nihilism, but, on the contrary, is aimed at finding a compromise between private and public interests. Theorists of populism develop the thesis of N. G. Chernyshevsky’s «reasonable egoism», according to which intellectually and morally meaningful individualistic (autonomous) behavior can correspond to collective interests. The moral autonomy of the individual, according to most populists, does not deny the possibility of socially responsible behavior. Conclusion. Populist thought becomes a kind of counterpoint to the development of liberating social thought in Russia, transforming the ideal type of carrier of liberating ideas: a morally autonomous nihilist turns into a socially responsible populist.

Degeneration Theory and Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov

I am here interested in presenting a comparative analysis between the strand of thought known as ‘Degeneration Theory’ and Dostoevsky’s last major novel, The Brothers Karamazov. I will provide a brief contextualization about the influence of Degeneration Theory on Russian thought, postulating that the principal Russian preoccupation concerning degenerate attitudes – above all in Dostoevsky - consists in the disease of moral nihilism. I proceed by outlining the criminal type in The Brothers Karamazov by focalizing my inquiry around the figure of the illegitimate epileptic brother Smerdjakov. My main arguments around the question of social and physiological degeneration will be developed in the subsection devoted to the relationship between poverty and children, whose humility, it is argued, represents Dostoevsky’s answer to the death of God and the moral bankruptcy enacted by nihilistic tendencies. In the third segment I will analyse the maddening outcomes of this disease in my discussion of Ivan Karamazov. Lastly, I will venture into a more unreserved discussion about the purported sequel to The Brothers Karamazov. This study seeks to emphasize the importance in the relationship between characters and the God question, ultimately claiming that for Dostoevsky physical degeneration is deployed as a physiological counterpart for the chief concern of many degenerationist narratives: the spiritual degradation of the individual soul and of the integrity of civilization.

Pessimism and the Questions of Moral Nihilism and Ethical Quietism

The Nietzschean critiques of Schopenhauer’s metaphysical and ethical pessimism are well known. For Nietzsche, Schopenhauer’s pessimistic metaphysics necessarily leads to a nihilation of reality that gives rise to a mode of passive ethical quietism. To correct these perceived weaknesses, Nietzsche famously endeavors to develop a new “pessimism of strength” that, he argues, will promote a more vital and positive sense of natural moral value and ethical activity. The aim of this paper is to interrogate Nietzsche’s claim that Schopenhauer’s metaphysics necessarily leads to a nihilation of natural value and ethical quietism. To these ends, I will examine the nature of Schopenhauer’s pessimism, its metaphysical foundations and ethical applications, and show how Philipp Mainländer, a hitherto understudied inheritor of this pessimism, saw in it not a gateway to moral nihilism, but an inversion of moral naturalism which called for radical acts of ethical, social, and political engagement. By translating and interpreting key passages from Mainländer two-volume Die Philosophie der Erlösung, this paper shows how Mainländer’s ethics and politics help us to understand the ethical consequences of Schopenhauer’s metaphysical pessimism in a new light, not as a precursor to nihilism and quietism, as Nietzsche claims, but as a foundation for revolutionary ethical and socio-political activity.

Moral Nihilism—So What?

Moral Nihilism—So What?

Judgment and the Joker: The Relationship Between Moral Nihilism and Law and Order in Joker.

This research focuses on Todd Phillip’s 2019 film, Joker, in which the main antagonist, Arthur Fleck, is analyzed through the philosophical lens of Friedrich Nietzsche’s theory of Moral Nihilism. The researcher used peer-reviewed academic sources to gain an understanding of the predetermined relationship between Moral Nihilism and the disturbance of Law and Order. A qualitative thematic content analysis was conducted to analyze the presence of disturbed Law and Order and Moral Nihilism in scenes throughout Joker through the coding categories of amoralism, moral subjectivism, egoism, lack of attachment to consequences, lack of empathy, violence/destruction, riots, and lack of political control, which were determined through extensive preliminary research. The collected scenes from both the researcher and cocoder were then analyzed for interrater reliability. After following through with the selected methodology, it was determined that in Joker, both Moral Nihilism and a disturbance of Law and Order were present. It can be concluded that Nihilism and Law and Order are not a direct cause and effect relationship but are mutually reinforcing of one another as time progresses as both Arthur Fleck and the city of Gotham fell into chaos simultaneously throughout this specific film.

Moral Universality and Moral Nihilism: On the Meaning of Today's Re-evaluation of Values

Moral Universality and Moral Nihilism: On the Meaning of Today's Re-evaluation of Values

Sufism as a way of self-implementation and knowledge of the truth

In this article, in the process of globalization, in the fight against the vices of a universal nature, such as “spiritual poverty”, “moral nihilism”, the comprehension of a constructive spiritual system of values, the essence of Sufism, which has universal characteristics, and the harmony of reality with the principle of heredity and modernity, the spiritual contribution of Sufism and mysticism to the improvement of man - it is based on the need for a synthesis of mental healing effects with modern innovations.

Kletzer’s Direttissima

Abstract Kletzer believes that, by focusing upon permission, we can derive the law’s obligatory power from the idea that the world is normatively inert. In a normatively inert world, everything is permitted. Consequently, if the law operates by permitting the use of force, it requires no deep normative underpinning: it could even invoke moral nihilism as its basis. Although ingenious, this argument faces two formidable problems. Firstly, in a normatively inert world, permissions can have causal effects but no normative effects. And secondly, the normatively inert world cannot be assumed as an uncontentious given or derived from the shortfall between what is and what ought to be, as Kletzer supposes. It requires a contestable metaphysics. Although accepting the unity of practical reason, Kletzer rejects the traditional natural law position on the grounds that law and morality are of dissimilar form, so that law cannot be grounded in morality. At the same time, he fails to offer any explanation of that difference in form. Once we have a satisfactory explanation of this difference, we see that it is precisely the difference in form between law and morality that enables us to understand law’s basis in morality. Individual moral engagement and reflection can flourish only within communities governed by law.

Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality

Science and the Good: The Tragic Quest for the Foundations of Morality

Russian working youth: Strategies to achieve wellbeing

The article presents the results of the analysis of strategies to achieve wellbeing among Russian working youth. The analysis is based on the survey of 1121 respondents between 20 and 30 years old, living in Moscow and major cities of eight federal districts of Russia. The article describes the following five strategies. (1) “Familism” is a predominantly female strategy directed at attaining a work-life balance. It is characterized by high life satisfaction, low work and career satisfaction, as well as by low labor mobility. (2) “Rational consumerism” includes the economical use of family resources and savings activities. It reflects the predominance of materialistic values, an orientation towards a moderate and quiet life, and the absence of professional ambitions. (3) “Networking and entrepreneurship” is a pronounced achievementoriented strategy directed at the accumulation of social capital and entrepreneurial activity. The strategy is characterized by moral nihilism and by orientations towards personal responsibility and self-efficiency. (4) “Investing in professional development” is a work-centric strategy focused on increasing professional knowledge and the acquisition of new professional skills, together with increasing work efforts. This is a predominantly male strategy, more typical for respondents from Russian regions compared to Moscow. (5) “Civic activism” is a less frequently mentioned strategy directed at protecting one’s rights and participation in public and political life. It is common mainly for those living in Moscow. The analysis reveals that these five strategies are shaped by different combinations of the respondents’ individual characteristics, values and orientations, industry of employment, residency, and organizational practices. It was determined that some strategies are developed by the mechanism of accumulating advantages while others are predominantly compensatory in their nature.

POSTANARCHISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF RADICAL POLITICS

The article presents the postanarchist conceptualization of radical politics. The methodology of this study was a critical analysis and use of historical and philosophical methods, the method of contextualism, the method of discursive analysis. In connection with the intensification of protest movements, including those aimed at combating the omnipotence of the state, the spread of the ideology of anti-globalization is growing theoretical interest in anarchism. Anarchism today is not the only political doctrine. This is a large family of like-minded people, united by hostility to uncontrolled power, distrust of the hierarchy and optimistic belief in the ability of ordinary people to control their lives and organize social relations on the basis of freedom, equality and solidarity. In the framework of the announced “anarchist turn”, anarchism is manifested as the basis of radical policy in recent times. The theoretical foundations of modern anarchism remain poorly understood. Modern political radicalism is based on a certain philosophy, which in a new way substantiates the ideas and actions in the socio-political sphere, aimed at radical change of existing social institutions. This is a philosophy of action, struggle, protest. Postanarchism is seen as a new view of radical politics. The features of philosophical essentialism as the basis of conceptual modeling in classical anarchism are formulated. Postanarchism is presented as a philosophy that avoids essentialism, its tools are analyzed. The connection between the left movement of the 1960s and modern post-capitalist movements is analyzed. Political theory here is further developed, ceases to be abstract, filled with human meaning. Within the framework of the “anarchist turn” there is a gradual destruction of the main stereotypes or narratives about anarchism (about its theoretical insolvency, unscientificity, utopianism) formed over many years in literature and public opinion. It is proved that the theory of anarchism is constantly evolving and updated over time in order to find solutions to acute social, political and economic problems. The author sees the prospects of post-anarchism in its political philosophy, which has certain values. In the modern era, such a philosophy was supplanted by positivist political science in theory and for the triumph of moral nihilism and relativism in practice. The obtained results allow us to find out what distinguishes modern anarchism as a movement and philosophy from the left movements of the past and the features of the theoretical language of description of the modern protest movement.

Moral Nihilism, Intellectual Nihilism & Practical Ethics

Moral Nihilism, Intellectual Nihilism & Practical Ethics

Rereading Albert Camus’ The Plague During a Pandemic: Of Plagues and Nazis: Camus’ Journey from Moral Nihilism

Rereading Albert Camus’ The Plague During a Pandemic: Of Plagues and Nazis: Camus’ Journey from Moral Nihilism

Political, Moral, and Existential Nihilism in Wilfred Owen’s Poem “The Dead-Beat”

Political, Moral, and Existential Nihilism in Wilfred Owen’s Poem “The Dead-Beat”

Моральная универсальность и моральный нигилизм: о смыслах современной переоценки ценностей

Modern thought is characterized by the attention to the revaluation of values. The idea of the absence of a single transcultural ethical “code” is given a moral meaning: it is seen as a condition for a dialogue that overcomes the repressive intentions of enlightenment univer­salism. This article examines the role of the moral universality idea in the formation of two types of moral nihilism that are significant for modern culture: a) first-order nihilism that re­jects the universality of specific moral concepts and b) second-order nihilism that rejects the universality of a pure moral law. In first-order nihilism, the appeal to the universality of duty serves as a means of overthrowing the universalist claims of prevailing morality. In second-order nihilism, the essential conflict in the structure of the idea of universality ends with the denial of the universality of duty. It is shown that a significant number of modern culture practices are determined by nihilism of the second order. The origins of this type of nihilism are investigated. We prove its connection with the ethical system of Kant, and, at the same time, with the will-to-power ethics of Nietzsche. The transition from Kant’s idea of universal duty to the denial of the universality of duty by Dostoevsky’s heroes is be­ing reconstructed. The analysis suggests that optimistic interpretations of the current plural situation are not justified. Without connecting the idea of universality to the idea of the ab­soluteness of moral requirements, the idea of a plurality of moral worlds leads not to a “dia­logue of different origins”, but to the gnostic construction of “multi-store humanity”.

Nihilism and the ascetic ideal: on the value of asceticism in Nietzschean genealogy

I investigate in this article the connection of nihilism with the ascetic ideal in the third essay of the Genealogy of Morals . In this essay, Nietzsche contrasts the genuine Philosopher with the ascetic priest, in order to open space for his affirmative philosophical-artistic intentions. While the ascetic priest radicalizes moral nihilism, the authentic Philosopher develops ascetic forms of life to provide the conditions for his creative work. I ask, finally, whether the “Philosopher” is able to overcome the nihilistic crisis of values and the physiological deca- dence of man. Keywords : nihilism, ascetic ideal, value, Philosopher.

Hinge Epistemology, Radical Skepticism, and Domain Specific Skepticism

This paper explores how hinge epistemology (specifically, Duncan Pritchard’s brand of hinge epistemology) might fruitfully be applied not only to the problem of radical skepticism, but also to certain domain specific (or ‘local’) skepticisms, and in particular, moral skepticism. The paper explains the idea of a domain specific skepticism, and how domain specific skepticisms contrast with radical skepticism. I argue that a domain specific skeptical problem can be resolved in just the same way as radical skepticism, if there are hinge commitments within that domain. I then suggest that there are hinge commitments in the moral domain, and use this to address a moral skeptical problem due to our apparent inability to know moral nihilism to be false.

Realism, values and critique

ABSTRACTThis is a lightly edited transcript of a plenary talk given at the Beyond Positivism conference, Montreal, August 8–10 2017. The talk followed others by Christopher Winship and Frédéric Vandenberghe, which are mentioned in the text. The paper argues that critical social science needs an ontology of values, and that a coherent ontology must recognize that values are created by human beings in social settings, rather than being objectively true. Recognizing this, however, need not expose us to the moral nihilism of extreme relativism. Drawing on the work of Habermas and the capabilities approach, I argue that we can reason about what sorts of basic values we should be committed to, without invoking the concept of objective values. This provides us with material that we can build on to construct more complex constructive critical arguments.

Trends in the Moral and Spiritual Development of Rural Residents in Belgorod Oblast (the Experience of Institutional Analysis)

This article examines contradictions in the spiritual development of residents of villages in Belgorod Oblast using data from a panel study conducted in 2000 and 2013. It attempts an institutional analysis of the role of social practices in contemporary processes. The results make it possible to assert that an individual’s actions are determined not so much by their internal attitudes and preferences, as they are by popular practical standards of behavior and the demands and restrictions imposed on the individual from without and on the part of the institutional environment. In particular, the internal contradictory nature of transitional institutions is emphasized. This contradictory nature is expressed in the confrontation between “old” (traditionalist and paternalistic) practices and “new” (competitive and achievement-oriented) practices on the one hand and between “positive” (independence, personal responsibility) and “negative” (moral and legal nihilism) norms underlying the practices of daily social interactions on the other.