1

Nihilism manifests itself in various contexts—for example, individual and collective, historical and psychological—and different expressions, for instance, ontological, epistemological, ethical, political, logical, theological. Its types are also variegated:

  • incomplete,
  • complete,
  • extreme,
  • consummate,
  • ecstatic.

I've also heard of

  • reactive,

  • active, and

  • passive.

These latter three appear in Deleuze, when he claims that the "higher man" is just a means for reactive men to deify themselves:

The prophet is a prophet... representative of passive nihilism, prophet of the last man... The ugliest of men represents reactive nihilism: the reactive man has turned his ressentiment against God, he has put himself in the place of the God he has killed (Nietzsche and philosophy p155)

What does each mean?

Improve this question
7
  • i think it's meant to be incomplete / reactive (history of nihilism), complete / passive (despicable men), extreme / active (artists?), consummate (nietzsche), ecstatic (heidegger), but i'm guessing
    – user38026
    Apr 25 '19 at 13:00
  • 1
    Nihilism is a term covering everything from the philosophical rejection of existence to the pervading feeling induced by clinical depression.
    – Richard
    Apr 25 '19 at 13:29
  • 1
    well, even from a technical philosophy position, Nihilism has multiple exact meanings.. hence the OP's question.
    – Richard
    Apr 25 '19 at 13:46
  • 1
    There is a commonly used logical or (grammatical) opposition active/passive and also a more physical one "active/reactive". Both are indeed in Deleuze writings, not necessarily connected with nihilism. And the rest here is just a bunch of adjectives.
    – sand1
    Apr 25 '19 at 21:02
  • 1
    Isn't this too broad even by your standards? What exactly unites these "nihilisms" aside from a common name? And if we are talking Deleuze and Heidegger, even one of these senses might take a page or two. Is there one sense in particular you interested in and can focus this on?
    – Conifold
    Apr 25 '19 at 21:49

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy