Laying Down a Path in Walking
Laying Down a Path in Walking
This concluding chapter examines some of the ethical dimensions of groundlessness in relation to the concern with nihilism that is typical of much post-Nietzschean thought. In the humanities—in art, literature, and philosophy—the growing awareness of groundlessness has taken form not through a confrontation with objectivism but rather with nihilism, skepticism, and extreme relativism. Indeed, this concern with nihilism is typical of late-twentieth-century life. Its visible manifestations are the increasing fragmentation of life, the revival of and continuing adherence to a variety of religious and political dogmatisms, and a pervasive yet intangible feeling of anxiety, which writers depict so vividly. It is for this reason—and because nihilism and objectivism are actually deeply connected—that the chapter turns to consider in more detail the nihilistic extreme.
Keywords: groundlessness, nihilism, objectivism, skepticism, extreme relativism, nihilistic extreme, religious dogmatisms, political dogmatisms
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