Nihilism: Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Now

Abstract: In this article, I discuss how Nietzsche’s critique of nihilism concerns the complicity between Christian morality and modern atheism. I unpack in what sense Schopenhauer’s ascetic denial of the will signifies a return to nothingness, what he calls the nihil negativum. I argue that Nietzsche’s formulation of nihilism specifically targets Schopenhauer’s pessimism as the culmination of the Western metaphysical tradition, the crucial stage of its intellectual history in which the scientific pursuit of truth finally unveils the ascetic will to nothingness that motivates it. I contend that Nietzsche’s critique of Schopenhauer anticipates current scholarly debates around the significance of the nihil negativum and offers a compelling objection against contemporary proponents of philosophical nihilism such as Eugene Thacker and Ray Brassier.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Nihilism: Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Now ; volume:6 ; number:1 ; year:2023 ; extent:17 ; Open Philosophy ; 6, Heft 1 (2023) (gesamt 17)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Stewart-Kroeker, Peter

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/opphil-2022-0235
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023030913030989281598
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:59 AM CEST