Nihilism

The main ideologies present in his own world were existentialism, solipsism, and nihilism. Nihilism, which is what the dragon had taught Grendel, was the belief that life had no meaning. When presented with this idea, Grendel could not comprehend it or he did not want to, since he kept saying “ I think you are lying” to the dragon (Grendel)…

The first time I actually questioned mankind’s purpose was when I was speaking with a fellow atheist, such as myself. We were just conversing on many philosophical topics when the idea of destiny and fate came up. This soon led to us debating whether or not mankind has a greater purpose. My stance on the topic was that only a creator could give a product a purpose, and because I do not believe that there is an infinite divine substance, a purpose could not have been given for our life, which was…

playing by the rules and stop contributing to the building of their "evil" and "unnatural" civilization. McKenna's quote "Culture is not your friend" comes to mind. It's like post-modernism in a pill, without the depressive nihilism. Is it…

Why does this lead to nihilism? Can one be a Christian and believe this? Explain. According to Hauser the main challenges of faith today, “It is a question of conviction – do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear (cf.…

an ethical relativist when he demonstrates that Christian values are not based on God, but from historical origin. However, we should not contradict relativism and nihilism. A nihilist would say that nothing is of value. So, they both agree that there are no universal bases for determining value. Friedrich Nietzsche is more a nihilism than a relativism. Therefore, Nietzsche is not an ethical relativist. In Human, All-too-Human, Nietzsche seems to be an ethical egoist: “No man has ever done…

Mapping the elements of absurdism in Albert Camus’ The myth of Sisyphus Nirmit Bhatnagar B.A(hons) English Vth Sem…

imprint on each human being, and each thing that human creates. John Gardner’s Grendel, a reimagining of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, features fundamental philosophical ideas running through its core. In Grendel, Gardner explores topics such as nihilism, atheism, and isolationism to explain his view on the negative aspects of the human experience. Grendel’s overarching theme is the purpose of life. The titular character spends most of the novel determining whether or not he was meant to exist…

Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” Unlike Roosevelt’s quote, though, is Grendel really just a prisoner to his mind, or is it wyrd that destined Grendel to be the vicious monster he is? It is the controversial discussion between free will and fate, and which are prevalent in Grendel, written by John Gardner, and Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel. Both stories include this theme of free will against fate, which is still a…

Raskolnikov becomes unwilling to accept the fact that he might not be extraordinary, so he constantly tries to convince himself that the murder was justified. In this part of Crime and Punishment Raskolnikov represents the ideals of Nihilism and Utilitarianism. His relation to Nihilism makes him reject all meaning in life and create his own moral code, which leads him to carry out the murder. He doesn’t value family or relationships, and he rejects values and emotions. His Utilitarian principles…

The main inspiration for my work was Susan Sontag — a person that links Andy Warhol and Samuel Beckett. As a critic she wrote commentaries on both: art and literature. In 1964 Andy Warhol had made a Screen Test of Sontag in his Factory and almost twenty years later she directed Waiting for Godot in Sarajevo. They created a triangle contained of “low” and “hight” culture intertwined with critical interpretation (or the question on interpretation). In this essay I would argue that both: Beckett…