A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century: Confrontations with Nothingness [Paperback]

A rich, expansive book reaching beyond philosophy to literature and the history of ideas with strong appeal to diverse readers.This rich, expansive book reaches beyond philosophy to literature and the history of ideas. Nihilism is associated most frequently with twentieth-century movements, but Jon Stewart shows that a tradition of nineteenth-century nihilism actually predated and anticipated developments like existentialism and postmodernism.This rich, expansive book reaches beyond philosophy to literature and the history of ideas. Nihilism is associated most frequently with twentieth-century movements, but Jon Stewart shows that a tradition of nineteenth-century nihilism actually predated and anticipated developments like existentialism and postmodernism.Nihilism  the belief that life is meaningless  is frequently associated with twentieth-century movements such as existentialism, postmodernism and Dadaism, and thought to result from the shocking experiences of the two World Wars and the Holocaust. In his rich and expansive new book, Jon Stewart shows that nihilism's beginnings in fact go back much further to the first half of the nineteenth century. He argues that the true origin of modern nihilism was the rapid development of Enlightenment science, which established a secular worldview. This radically diminished the importance of human beings so that, in the vastness of space and time, individuals now seemed completely insignificant within the universe. The author's panoramic exploration of how nihilism developed  not only in philosophy, but also in religion, poetry and literature  shows what an urgent topic it was for thinkers of all kinds, and how it has continued powerfully to shape intellectual debates ever since.Introduction; 1. Jean Paul's Vision of Nihilism and Plea for the Doctrine of Immortality; 2. Klingemann and the Absurdity of Nothingness in The Nightwatches; 3. Nihilism in English Romanticism: Byron and Shelley; 4. Schopenhauer's Theory of Humalƒ#