My dissertation details what Nietzsche sees as a normative and philosophical crisis that arises in modern society. This crisis involves a growing sense of malaise that leads to large-scale questions about whether life in the modern world can be seen as meaningful and good. I claim that confronting this problem is a central concern throughout Nietzsche’s philosophical career, but that his understanding of this problem and its solution shifts throughout different phases of his thinking. Part of what is unique to Nietzsche’s treatment of this problem is his understanding that attempts to imbue existence with meaning are self-undermining, becoming pathological and only further entrenching the problem. Nietzsche’s solution to this problem ultimately resides in treating meaning as a spiritual need that can only be fulfilled through a creative interpretive process.

Orientador: Mario Fernando Bolognesi / Banca: Anderson de Souza Zanetti / Banca: Alessandro Rodrigues Pimenta / Banca: Karylleila dos Santos Andrade / Banca: Paulo Sérgio Gomes Soares / Resumo: O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o niilismo que permeia as produções culturais e o pensamento contemporâneos, a partir dos conceitos de absurdo e revolta de Albert Camus (1913-1960), como ethos possível de uma vida que não se nega a si mesma e se faz semelhante à arte, a saber: criadora. Trata-se de buscar compreender a época das duas guerras mundiais (primeira metade do século XX), em que assassinatos e crueldades receberam estatuto de inocência e razoabilidade por parte da filosofia e da ciência. Neste cenário, a arte compartilha do espírito hodierno da revolta. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, serve de parâmetro de uma ação que busca a unidade na criação, sem cair na negação niilista do suicídio, do assassinato ou de regimes totalitários. Para esta análise, a metodologia hermenêutica empregada consiste numa imersão na obra ensaística, romanesca e dramatúrgica de Camus que busca, ao longo de seus textos, individuar e discutir a problemática niilista em relação com a arte, dentro das preocupações estéticas e poéticas, as quais constituem o horizonte reflexivo do autor. Também lançamos mão das reflexões de Nietzsche como obra de apoio para desenvolver o significado, a origem e a história do niilismo. A partir disso, dividimos a nossa tese em três capítulos: 1 - diagnóstico histórico do niilismo com base no pensamento nietzschiano e na apropriação que o franco-argelino fez do pensador alemão; 2 - a abordagem da relação entre o conceito de niilismo e absurdo e como este se torna um mod... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The has the obj ective of this work is to analyze the nihilism that permeates contemporary cultural production, from the concepts of absurdity and rebellion of Albert Camus (1913 - 1960), as possible ethos of a life that does not deny itself and makes it similar to art, nam ely: creative. It is a question of understanding the time of the two world wars (f irst half of the 20th century ), when murders and cruelties were given innocent and reasonable status by philosophy and science. In this scenario, an art shared by the current spirit of revolt. However, at the same time, serve s as a parameter of an action that seeks the production, without suicide, of suicide, murder or totalitarian regimes. For this analysis, the hermeneutic methodology employed consists of an immersion in the essays, romanesca and dramaturgica work of Camu s that searches, throughout in their texts, to identify and discuss the nihilistic problematic in relation to art, within the aesthetic and poetic concerns, which constitute the reflective horizon of t he auth or. We also use Nietzsche's reflections as a support to develop the meaning, an origin and a history of nihilism . From this, we divide our thesis into three chapters : 1 - historical diagnosis of nihilism on the basis of Nietzschean thought and the a ppropri ation that the Franco - Algerian made of the German thinker; 2 - the approach of the relationship between the concept of nihilism and absurdity and how this becomes a model of life and ar... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Many of the writings of Leo Strauss were dedicated to combating the "crisis of modernity". This crisis was for him the advent and acceptance of nihilism--a state of being wherein any principle one dare dream is allowed and judgment must be withheld. He claimed that the promotion of nihilism at the hands of modern social scientists would lead to the downfall of civilization. Yet, this work seeks to show that all of these claims are made by Strauss in an attempt to hide the "truth" of nihilism from the masses and that Strauss, in fact, is a nihilist thinker. The introductory chapter of this work introduces the problem of nihilism as outlined by Strauss. It also briefly explains the positions of two other nihilist thinkers, Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault, in order to establish the thought which Strauss seems to be arguing against in his works. It then explains the writing style of Strauss as being esoteric. The following chapter will deal with the Strauss' argument for the causes of nihilism. Chapter three will be dedicated to the two solutions that Strauss presents for combating nihilism. The exoteric solution calls for a return to the teachings of the classics, specifically the three types of teaching that he recognizes--Socratic-Platonic, Aristotelian, and Thomistic. The esoteric solution, however, is to use the Platonic conception of the "noble lie" in order to hide the "truth" of nihilism. Chapters four and five will compare Strauss' nihilism to that of Nietzsche and Foucault, respectively. Each chapter will expand on the discussion already presented in the first chapter to further elucidate each thinker's version of nihilism. Finally, I will outline the conception of these three thinkers as a continuum for nihilist thought. I will also discuss how the only definitive difference between the three thinkers is their outlook on the human condition. For example, Strauss and his hidden nihilism is a direct result of his pessimistic view of the masses; whereas Nietzsche's Übermensch nihilism is brought about by his outlook on the prospect for development beyond humanity and Foucault's pure nihilism is drawn out from his notion of power/knowledge. In this way, this work will not only show Strauss as a closet nihilist but also show his integral role in understanding the full range of nihilist thought.

In this project, I develop Nietzsche's account of truth based on the two perspectives of nihilism and health and conclude that his varied analyses and comments from the early and late periods of his writing are compatible. Nietzsche's discussions of truth are divided into two parts. First, the discussion of the concept of truth. Second, he analyzes modern culture that considers the highest type the one that seeks truth. His discussion of the concept of truth involves a critique of the thing-in-itself and Correspondence Theory. The subtle point to get is that Nietzsche never denies the existence of a real world in which we live. However, his critique is of human's ability to arrive at this truth. I argue that his attack on the concept of the thing-in-itself in the late notebooks is aimed at showing the metaphysical incoherence of the concepts of thinghood and self-identity and not on the concept of an unknown grounding existence. As for the second discussion, I argue that Nietzsche condemns truth-seeking insofar as it is held as the highest ideal in a culture. When this occurs, the will to truth in cultures and individuals becomes tyrannical and stems the growth of the person as a complete self, with varied drives and impulses. Finally, I conclude that Nietzsche hopes to overcome nihilism by breaking the tyranny that has taken over society which is governed by a will to nothingness, which depreciates the value of life. He understands the immensity of the task of overcoming this will, and understands that he can only be part of a larger context of combating nihilism. Accordingly, he sees his role as reintroducing man to his body and his physiology and to bring back the experimentation and playful seriousness in the art of living life as opposed to the life-sacrificing and life-denying type that thinks of the pursuit of truth as a relinquishment of life.

In this project, I develop Nietzsche’s account of truth based on the two perspectives of nihilism and health and conclude that his varied analyses and comments from the early and late periods of his writing are compatible. Nietzsche’s discussions of truth are divided into two parts. First, the discussion of the concept of truth. Second, he analyzes modern culture that considers the highest type the one that seeks truth. His discussion of the concept of truth involves a critique of the thing-in-itself and Correspondence Theory. The subtle point to get is that Nietzsche never denies the existence of a real world in which we live. However, his critique is of human’s ability to arrive at this truth. I argue that his attack on the concept of the thing-in-itself in the late notebooks is aimed at showing the metaphysical incoherence of the concepts of thinghood and self-identity and not on the concept of an unknown grounding existence. As for the second discussion, I argue that Nietzsche condemns truth-seeking insofar as it is held as the highest ideal in a culture. When this occurs, the will to truth in cultures and individuals becomes tyrannical and stems the growth of the person as a complete self, with varied drives and impulses. Finally, I conclude that Nietzsche hopes to overcome nihilism by breaking the tyranny that has taken over society which is governed by a will to nothingness, which depreciates the value of life. He understands the immensity of the task of overcoming this will, and understands that he can only be part of a larger context of combating nihilism. Accordingly, he sees his role as reintroducing man to his body and his physiology and to bring back the experimentation and playful seriousness in the art of living life as opposed to the life-sacrificing and life-denying type that thinks of the pursuit of truth as a relinquishment of life.

This dissertation examines the various ways in which pop-cultural illustrations of the “bad nigger” figure beginning in the late 1960s helped to shape the kinds of defiant and oppositional practices that define the lives of black male youths today. I offer a brief history of the cultural and literary trope of the so-called “bad nigger.” I not only chart the cultural and political expressions of the “bad nigger” trope from the antebellum South to the industrial North, I also offer a critique of these accounts of defiant black male behavior that have dominated much of the intellectual discourse. Writing on the Streets: Urban Literature’s Black Male Hero does not pretend that the struggles of poor black inner-city life are somehow romantic or dramatic. What this dissertation does do, however, is offer popular black male cultural productions as a new critical site for engaging the cultural politics of economic power and racial oppression. Much of the scholarship on black male youth culture fails to engage popular texts that respond to black peoples’ negotiation of global issues. The works that do engage popular expressions and cultural productions often underestimate the importance violence, defiance, and opposition plays in the construction of a black male identity, not just for poor urban black male youths, but for men of color in general. Thus, this dissertation intends to magnify the need for more critical inquiry into popular cultural productions such as “street literature” and rap music, both of which contain poetic as well as practical elements of community uplift and self-empowerment and engage issues of cultural nihilism and self-destruction. This project’s focus on non-canonical texts follows bell hooks’ methodology and whose intellectual philosophy argues for “learning in relation to living regular life, of using everything we already know to know more. Merging critical thinking in everyday life with knowledge learned in books and through study has been the union of theory and practice that has informed my intellectual cultural work” (hooks 2). My hope, therefore, is that the readings I offer here will open the possibility for scholars and students of literature to consider more earnestly the importance of popular cultural productions in black communities. Furthermore, I write this dissertation in an effort to convince cultural and literary critics to concern themselves with the unique history and plight of poor urban black males confronting oppression and struggling in this criminal society.

In my first chapter, I will discuss the mark of Cain at greater length and introduce the idea of daemon. In the second chapter, I will discuss how it functions as part of Nietzschean active nihilism. Finally, in the third chapter, I will explore the problem of somberness and the problem of fanaticism, and see how Hesse tries to resolve these two problems.

In this project, I develop Nietzsche’s account of truth based on the two perspectives of nihilism and health and conclude that his varied analyses and comments from the early and late periods of his writing are compatible. Nietzsche’s discussions of truth are divided into two parts. First, the discussion of the concept of truth. Second, he analyzes modern culture that considers the highest type the one that seeks truth. His discussion of the concept of truth involves a critique of the thing-in-itself and Correspondence Theory. The subtle point to get is that Nietzsche never denies the existence of a real world in which we live. However, his critique is of human’s ability to arrive at this truth. I argue that his attack on the concept of the thing-in-itself in the late notebooks is aimed at showing the metaphysical incoherence of the concepts of thinghood and self-identity and not on the concept of an unknown grounding existence. As for the second discussion, I argue that Nietzsche condemns truth-seeking insofar as it is held as the highest ideal in a culture. When this occurs, the will to truth in cultures and individuals becomes tyrannical and stems the growth of the person as a complete self, with varied drives and impulses. Finally, I conclude that Nietzsche hopes to overcome nihilism by breaking the tyranny that has taken over society which is governed by a will to nothingness, which depreciates the value of life. He understands the immensity of the task of overcoming this will, and understands that he can only be part of a larger context of combating nihilism. Accordingly, he sees his role as reintroducing man to his body and his physiology and to bring back the experimentation and playful seriousness in the art of living life as opposed to the life-sacrificing and life-denying type that thinks of the pursuit of truth as a relinquishment of life.

In this project, I develop Nietzsche's account of truth based on the two perspectives of nihilism and health and conclude that his varied analyses and comments from the early and late periods of his writing are compatible. Nietzsche's discussions of truth are divided into two parts. First, the discussion of the concept of truth. Second, he analyzes modern culture that considers the highest type the one that seeks truth. His discussion of the concept of truth involves a critique of the thing-in-itself and Correspondence Theory. The subtle point to get is that Nietzsche never denies the existence of a real world in which we live. However, his critique is of human's ability to arrive at this truth. I argue that his attack on the concept of the thing-in-itself in the late notebooks is aimed at showing the metaphysical incoherence of the concepts of thinghood and self-identity and not on the concept of an unknown grounding existence. As for the second discussion, I argue that Nietzsche condemns truth-seeking insofar as it is held as the highest ideal in a culture. When this occurs, the will to truth in cultures and individuals becomes tyrannical and stems the growth of the person as a complete self, with varied drives and impulses. Finally, I conclude that Nietzsche hopes to overcome nihilism by breaking the tyranny that has taken over society which is governed by a will to nothingness, which depreciates the value of life. He understands the immensity of the task of overcoming this will, and understands that he can only be part of a larger context of combating nihilism. Accordingly, he sees his role as reintroducing man to his body and his physiology and to bring back the experimentation and playful seriousness in the art of living life as opposed to the life-sacrificing and life-denying type that thinks of the pursuit of truth as a relinquishment of life.

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