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68Nihilism and the Postmodern in Vattimo's NietzscheMinerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy 6 (1): 51-67. 2002.A connection is often made between postmodernism and nihilism, but the full meaning of such a connection is rarely explored. The contemporary Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo is one of the few philosophers to have devoted much work to explaining this connection. Vattimo extrapolates the relevance of Nietzsche’s theory of nihilism for the postmodern condition, arguing that the concept of the postmodern can only be thought rigorously in relation to the nihilistic destiny of the West. This articl…Read more
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Keith Crome and James Williams, eds., The Lyotard Reader and GuidePhilosophy in Review 28 (2): 105. 2008.
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2Deleuze and suicideIn Anna Hickey-Moody & Peta Malins (eds.), Deleuzian Encounters: Studies in Contemporary Social Issues, Palgrave-macmillan. 2007.
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Testimony and the Affect-phraseIn Heidi Bickis & Rob Shields (eds.), Rereading Jean-François Lyotard: Essays on His Later Work,, Ashgate. 2013.
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2Immaterial MatterIn Barbara Bolt (ed.), Sensorium: aesthetics, art, life, Cambridge Scholars Press. 2007.This chapter explores Lyotard’s aesthetics in relation to the artist Yves Klein. Through the different activities of philosophy and art, Lyotard and Klein both explore the nature of sensibilité through an investigation of matter. Both paradoxically conclude that matter is in a sense immaterial. Lyotard understands matter as that part of an artwork which is diverse, unstable, and evanescent: in music, this corresponds to nuance and timbre, and in painting, to colour. Following Kant’s aesthetics, …Read more
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7Understanding NietzscheanismRoutledge. 2011.Nietzsche's critiques of traditional modes of thinking, valuing and living, as well as his radical proposals for new alternatives, have been vastly influential in a wide variety of areas, such that an understanding of his philosophy and its influence is important for grasping many aspects of contemporary thought and culture. However Nietzsche's thought is complex and elusive, and has been interpreted in many ways. Moreover, he has influenced starkly contrasting movements and schools of thought, …Read more
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27Becoming-animal in Shaffer's EquusDeleuze and Guatarri Studies 9 (2): 231-256. 2015.This paper mounts a philosophical defence of Peter Shaffer's 1973 play Equus by interpreting it from three perspectives: that of Freud, Jung, and Deleuze and Guattari. The latter's concept of becoming-animal is offered as a leading perspective which reveals the deep philosophical significance of the drama, belying the claims of those critics who have dismissed it as bogus or banal. This interpretation also allows Equus to be seen as an exemplary illustration of what Deleuze and Guattari mean by …Read more
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233Nihilism in Postmodernity: Lyotard, Baudrillard, VattimoThe Davies Group. 2006.Nihilism in Postmodernity is an exploration of the nature of the problem of meaninglessness in the contemporary world through the philosophical traditions of nihilism and postmodernism. The author traces the advent of modern nihilism in the works of Nietzsche, Sartre, and Heidegger, before detailing the postmodern transformation of nihilism in the works of three major postmodern thinkers: Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Vattimo. He presents a qualified defense of their positions, arguing that while th…Read more
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62Nihilism and the Sublime in LyotardAngelaki 16 (2): 51-71. 2011.This paper seeks to demonstrate that in Lyotard’s later works the sublime is posited as a response to nihilism. This demonstration is significantly complicated by the fact that while Lyotard frequently gave the sublime a positive valuation, he also identified it with nihilism. The paper charts Lyotard’s confrontation with nihilism throughout his career, showing how the themes with which he characterizes nihilism in his earlier works are repeated as characteristics of the sublime in his later wor…Read more
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221Deleuze, Nietzsche, and the overcoming of nihilismContinental Philosophy Review 46 (1): 115-147. 2013.This paper critically examines Deleuze’s treatment of the Nietzschean problem of nihilism. Of all the major figures in contemporary continental thought, Deleuze is at once one of the most luminous, and practically a lone voice in suggesting that nihilism may successfully be overcome. Whether or not he is correct on this point is thus a commanding question in relation to our understanding of the issue. Many commentators on Nietzsche have argued that his project of overcoming nihilism is destined …Read more
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4The End of TimeParrhesia 15 87-105. 2012.Approximately one trillion, trillion, trillion (101728) years from now, the universe will suffer a “heat death.” What are the existential implications of this fact for us, today? This chapter explores this question through Lyotard’s fable of the explosion of the sun, and its uptake and extension in the works of Keith Ansell Pearson and Ray Brassier. Lyotard proposes the fable as a kind of “post-metanarrative” sometimes told to justify research and development, and indeed the meaning of our indiv…Read more
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246Camus and NihilismSophia 50 (4): 543-559. 2011.Camus published an essay entitled ‘Nietzsche and Nihilism,’ which was later incorporated into The Rebel . Camus' aim was to assess Nietzsche's response to the problem of nihilism. My aim is to do the same with Camus. The paper explores Camus' engagement with nihilism through its two major modalities: with respect to the individual and the question of suicide in The Myth of Sisyphus , and with respect to the collective and the question of murder in The Rebel . While a Nietzschean influence thorou…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Continental Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Aesthetics |
Continental Philosophy |
European Philosophy |
PhilPapers Editorships
Jean-François Lyotard |