Electric Agora (archive)

Tag: Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Psychologizing Philosophy

    by Kevin Currie-Knight ___ I stand with Friedrich Nietzsche and William James when (albeit in different ways) they arrive at a similar position: a person’s philosophy reflects their temperament. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche suggested that every philosophy is “the confession of its originator, and a species of involuntary and unconscious auto-biography.” In Pragmatism,…

  • A Sunny Nihilism?

    by Kevin Currie-Knight ___ Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) chats with Wendy Syfret (VICE Asia) about her new book The Sunny Nihilist: How a Meaningless Life Can Make You Truly Happy. We talk about why the modern world relentlessly seeks meaning in everything, whether nihilism is a viable or liberating response, and whether/how nihilism is…

  • A Discussion with Michael Grenke on Lise van Boxel’s “Warspeak: Nietzsche’s Victory over Nihilism”

    by Daniel A. Kaufman ____ Michael Grenke of St. John’s College, Annapolis and I discuss the late Lise van Boxel’s book, “Warspeak: Nietzsche’s Victory over Nihilism” (Political Animal Press, 2021). 00:35 About Lise van Boxel and St. John’s College 06:00 Nietzsche and Nihilism 12:50 The Good, the Transcendent, and Nihilism 19:00 Philosophy as Genealogy 29:30…

  • Self-Knowledge, Self-Alienation, and the Curious Case of NXIVM

    by Kevin Currie-Knight ___ “What does it mean to be afraid?” Sarah Edmonson recalls Lauren Salzman saying this to strengthen Sarah’s resolve right before Sarah was to be branded with a cauterizing gun. Sarah was understandably scared. Lauren asked her to think about what that fear meant. Sarah didn’t interpret it as most would; i.e.…

  • Lessons From Nietzsche in the Era of Trump and Brexit

    by Patrick Hassan ___ It would be uncontroversial to observe that political and social divides have become increasingly polarized over the last ten years in much of Europe and the United States. Trump’s 2016 election campaign; the crusade for Brexit; the prominence of right-wing parties in Italy and Hungary: each were characterized by an inflated…