Abstract
This chapter offers a critical reading of the strategy of overcoming nihilism. I propose a narrative that frames Nietzsche and Heidegger as its main figures. Their philosophy grounds the set of conceptual assumptions about modernity, religion, and secularism that Taylor, Dreyfus, and Kelly share, leading them to frame nihilism as a problem to overcome through the power of the sacred. In contrast, Rorty rejects this view. He instead develops a curious relationship with nihilism that leads him to treat the problem differently in his writings.
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Notes
- 1.
Note that Heidegger interprets and re-appropriates Nietzschean nihilism according to the ontological schema of Being in his Nietzsche lectures (see Heidegger 1991a, b). I chose not to focus on these lectures for two reasons, which both have to do with thematic coherence: first, the preceding discussion on Nietzsche suffices for introducing the topic of modern nihilism, and second, Dreyfus and Kelly, in particular, refer to Nietzsche in their elaboration of nihilism as a problem, and Heidegger for showing how art can be mobilized against the threat of nihilism. The “overcoming” strategy is better explained by highlighting what is most influential to the sacred redemptionists in their reading of Nietzsche and Heidegger.
- 2.
I thank Michiel Meijer for routing me to the resources on Taylor that articulate this point.
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Llanera, T. (2020). Overcoming Nihilism. In: Richard Rorty: Outgrowing Modern Nihilism. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45058-8_2
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