Nihilism

MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series

By: Nolen Gertz

Narrated by: Shaun Grindell

Length: 4 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

When someone is labeled a nihilist, it's not usually meant as a compliment. Most of us associate nihilism with destructiveness and violence. Nihilism means, literally, "an ideology of nothing". Is nihilism, then, believing in nothing? Or is it the belief that life is nothing? Or the belief that the beliefs we have amount to nothing? If we can learn to recognize the many varieties of nihilism, Nolen Gertz writes, then we can learn to distinguish what is meaningful from what is meaningless. In this addition to the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Gertz traces the history of nihilism in Western philosophy from Socrates through Hannah Arendt and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Although the term "nihilism" was first used by Friedrich Jacobi to criticize the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Gertz shows that the concept can illuminate the thinking of Socrates, Descartes, and others. It is Nietzsche, however, who is most associated with nihilism, and Gertz focuses on Nietzsche's thought. Gertz goes on to consider what is not nihilism - pessimism, cynicism, and apathy - and why; he explores theories of nihilism; he considers nihilism as a way of understanding aspects of everyday life; and he reflects on the future of nihilism. We need to understand nihilism not only from an individual perspective, Gertz tells us, but also from a political one.

©2019 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2019 Gildan Media

very modern

this is the crux of ecoanxiety or mass extinction induced depression... very moving to see the analysis parrallel modern examples

A great book to escape reality for a few hours :-)

Decided to start learning about Philosophy with Nihilism and this was a very good overview of Nihilism and what it is/isn't.

thought provoking

At first the Narrator sounded dramatic, like the old man in the light house in the Rick and Morty episode "Look who's purging now!" It did kind of distract me at first. However, by the end of it, his cadence and intonation helped frame the ideas as he went along. Overall the narration made it easier to follow.

There's definitely a lot of vocabulary coming at you at once, so you might have to listen to this one while you're not as distracted doing other things.

I really enjoyed it overall and look forward to revisiting it once I've become more familiar with each of the philosophers.

Great for understanding all things nihilism

I really enjoyed listening to this book on nihilism and look forward to reading his other book;

Nihilism and Technology.

Amazing

Brings together concepts from diferrent times and creates a big picture for the listener to review things we just accept as facts.

This should not be your first NIHILISM book

This should not be your first nihilism book.
The book gives a couple of philosophical ideas which are quite good so I enjoyed it about 50% of the time of reading.
The book first gives a glimpse into the history of nihilism which is good and interesting.
Then the book gives what Nihilism is NOT - which is okay, but it tries to define nihilism by it in not a good manner in my opinion.
Then the book tries to explain what nihilism IS - not in a successful manner in my opinion.
Then the book gives examples of nihilism in our life - which is good and interesting.
Then the book talk about nihilism for the future - which is also good and interesting, talking about slave mentality and master mentality of ancient Greece.

This should not be your first book on nihilism since in my opinion the definition of nihilism is not well explained and I need multiple reads to digest this book to really understand all the negative definitions it gives - trying to define nihilism by what it is not instead of what it is.

I would recommend reading about nihilism in the following manner:

1. Nothing & Everything Kindle Edition - Gives you why nothing you believe is actually "true" and the thinking dimension of nihilism.
by Val N. Tine

2. Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age - Gives you why too much nihilism can destroy us.

3. Nihilism: A Philosophy Based In Nothingness And Eternity - Enhance your nihilism thinking.
by Brett Stevens

4. Neo-Nihilism: The Philosophy of Power - (Very good) Gives you how using nihilism you see the power of others and how to have power.
by Peter Sjöstedt-H

5. This book.

The text is decent, but the narration bad

If you have ever seen the Monty Python sketch "Whicker's World," you will understand what I mean when I say that the reading sounds just like the reporters. The text is decent, but it is hard for me to get past the bad reading, so much so that I will return it and use my credit elsewhere.

Disappointing

Book has obscurantist references to various philosophers and skiers around issue of nihilism as would be understood by most readers