Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age

“Nihilism—the belief that there is no Absolute Truth, that all truth is relative—is, Eugene affirmed, the basic philosophy of the 20th century: “It has become, in our time, so widespread and pervasive, has entered so thoroughly and so deeply into the minds and hearts of all men living today, that there is no longer any ‘front’ on which it may be fought.” This rejection of ‘truth’ now so widespread, it doesn’t seem a philosophical idea, just ‘the way things are’, just truth. “The heart of this philosophy, he said, was “expressed most clearly by Nietzsche and by a character of Dostoyevsky in the phrase: ‘God is dead, therefore man becomes God and everything is possible.’” And that’s what we now experience. “This task need not detain us long; Nihilism has been defined, and quite succinctly, by the fount of philosophical Nihilism, Nietzsche. “That there is no truth; that there is no absolute state of affairs—no ‘thing-in-itself.’ This alone is Nihilism, and of the most extreme kind.” “There is no truth”: we have encountered this phrase already more than once in this book, and it will recur frequently hereafter. For the question of Nihilism is, most profoundly, a question of truth; it is, indeed, the question of truth.’’ No way to avoid this question, this issue, this modern problem. “Relative truth” is primarily represented, for our age, by the knowledge of science, which begins in observation, proceeds by logic, and progresses in orderly fashion from the known to the unknown. It is always discursive, contingent, qualified, always expressed in “relation” to something else, never standing alone, never categorical, never “absolute.” Now for ‘science’ this rejection of absolute truth is wise, beneficial and useful. Human reason, is always learning, progressing. “The unreflective scientific specialist sees no need for any other kind of knowledge; occupied with the demands of his specialty, he has, perhaps, neither time nor inclination for “abstract” questions that inquire, for example, into the basic presuppositions of that specialty. If he is pressed, or if his mind spontaneously turns to such questions, the most obvious explanation is usually sufficient to satisfy his curiosity: all truth is empirical, all truth is relative. Either statement, of course, is a self-contradiction. The first statement is itself not empirical at all, but metaphysical; the second is itself an absolute statement.’’ And this is key point here! Ideas about science are not science! They are . . . philosophy! “This axiom has a corollary: the absolute cannot be attained by means of the relative.’’ Wow! “That is to say, the first principles of any system of knowledge cannot be arrived at through the means of that knowledge itself, but must be given in advance; they are the object, not of scientific demonstration, but of faith. We have discussed, in an earlier chapter, the universality of faith, seeing it as underlying all human activity and knowledge; and we have seen that faith, if it is not to fall prey to subjective delusions, must be rooted in truth.’’ Think Gödel! “ It is therefore a legitimate, and indeed unavoidable question whether the first principles of the scientific faith—for example, the coherence and uniformity of nature, the transsubjectivity of human knowledge, the adequacy of reason to draw conclusions from observation—are founded in absolute truth; if they are not, they can be no more than unverifiable probabilities. The “pragmatic” position taken by many scientists and humanists who cannot be troubled to think about ultimate things—the position that these principles are no more than experimental hypotheses which collective experience finds reliable—is surely unsatisfactory; it may offer a psychological explanation of the faith these principles inspire, but since it does not establish the foundation of that faith in truth, it leaves the whole scientific edifice on shifting sands and provides no sure defense against the irrational winds that periodically attack it.’’ And the incoherent, unstable, foolish state of science and scientists - confirms this insight! “Every man, as we have seen, lives by faith; likewise every man—something less obvious but no less certain—is a metaphysician.’’ So true. “The claim to any knowledge whatever—and no living man can refrain from this claim—implies a theory and standard of knowledge, and a notion of what is ultimately knowable and true. This ultimate truth, whether it be conceived as the Christian God or simply as the ultimate coherence of things, is a metaphysical first principle, an absolute truth. But with the acknowledgement, logically unavoidable, of such a principle, the theory of the “relativity of truth” collapses, it itself being revealed as a self-contradictory absolute.’’ Facing the impact of self-contradiction is just . . . painful. Why so much ‘faith’ in science? “It seems today the quaint relic of a simpler, but bygone, day, the Victorian day when many transferred to “science” the allegiance and emotions they had once devoted to religion. It is the impossible formulation of a “scientific” metaphysics—impossible because science is, by its nature, knowledge of the particular, and metaphysics is knowledge of what underlies the particular and is presupposed by it.’’ ‘Impossible create scientific metaphysics.’’ Great! (No wonder I can’t find it!) “It is a suicidal philosophy in that the “materialism” and “determinism” it posits render all philosophy invalid; since it must insist that philosophy, like everything else, is “determined,” its advocates can only claim that their philosophy, since it exists, is “inevitable,” but not at all that it is ‘true.’” Man-o-man! Introduction: The Question of Truth The Stages of the Nihilist Dialectic Liberalism Realism Vitalism The Nihilism of Destruction The Theology and the Spirit of Nihilism Rebellion: The War against God The Worship of Nothingness The Nihilist Program The Destruction of the Old Order The Making of the “New Earth” The Fashioning of the “New Man” “Beyond Nihilism” Eugene’s Proposed Outline for The Kingdom of Man and the Kingdom of God Appendix: The Philosophy of the Absurd Why power so important now? “The agnostic, if he acknowledges this criticism, does not allow it to disturb him; his position is one of “pragmatism,” “experimentalism,” “instrumentalism”: there is no truth, but man can survive, can get along in the world, without it. Such a position has been defended in high places—and in very low places as well—in our anti-intellectualist century; but the least one can say of it is that it is intellectually irresponsible. It is the definitive abandonment of truth, or rather the surrender of truth to power, whether that power be nation, race, class, comfort, or whatever other cause is able to absorb the energies men once devoted to the truth.’’ ‘Surrender of truth to power’. Great insight! “The whole food of Christian Truth, however, is accessible only to faith; and the chief obstacle to such faith is not logic, as the facile modern view has it, but another and opposed faith. We have seen indeed, that logic cannot deny absolute truth without denying itself; the logic that sets itself up against the Christian Revelation is merely the servant of another “revelation,” of a false “absolute truth”: namely Nihilism.’’ Nihilism now ‘absolute truth’. What a mess! This short work, from 1970’s, is outstanding analysis of modernity and why it’s different. Abstract and philosophical ideas are not commonly discussed or addressed. And, certainly not as carefully and clearly as this work. Profound insight and broad understanding. Even though Rose writes from a Christian basis, not dogmatic or superficial. In fact, more careful, studious, researched and erudite than most secular thinkers. In fact, numerous citations to Nietzsche and Marx provide clear analysis. Fascinating. Recommended. Work deserves ten stars! Dozens of notes (not linked) Detailed index (linked) No photographs

Others have said as much, but this is a great explanation of Nihilism from a traditional Christian view. Oddly, it was Fr Seraphim's commentary on Buddhism here that caught my attention the most. It was a great read.

Rose is an Orthodox Christian, so he filters Modern Nihilism through his Orthodox Faith. Which, for me, was a refreshing outlook. I am interested in studying Nihilism, I find it a fascinating subject! Rose argues Modern Nihilism through Modern Political theories and beliefs. Before reading his book, I was already thinking that Nihilism has already rooted itself into political thought, and his book is a great foundation to start with. Nihilism, the way I view it, is defined via Nietzsche as the "Devaluation of Values", more specifically the value of Life and God. Ultimately every major society that has introduced Greek Philosophy with Theism, Islam, Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy) have all suffered the devaluation of God and Life within their society. Islam for example introduced Greek Philosophy into their culture around the 800's C.E. and created the Islamic Golden Age, and by 1250 they rejected the advances of knowledge and decided to become more fundamental in their religion, which created civil unrest, civil wars and invasions! Due to the weakness of Islamic Unity left them open for conquest and by the 1400's Mehmed the Conqueror, Bayezid II and Suleiman the Magnificent conquered the entire Middle East, North Africa and parts of Europe, expanding the Ottoman Empire to its fullest height. Which led to the Stagnation of Islamic culture and which is one of the reason's the Ottoman Empire was dubbed the "sick man of Europe". Can anyone really state for certainty that "Modern" Islam is not a victim of Nihilism? That is a culture that has devalued life and god? Let me contrast this with Europe, when Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453, all of the Greek Scholars fled to Florence, Italy, sparking the European Renaissance! Once again, Greek Philosophy merged with Theism (Catholicism). Which sparked a "Golden Age" in Europe, which lasted til the 1700's. Like Islam, Catholicism went fundamental, which created civil unrest between the Church and the State, Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Inquisition, the 30 year's war. Which left Europe reeling, and by 1789 the French Revolution took place, which allowed Napoleon Bonaparte to rise to power, which he conquered France and then Europe, North Africa and attempted to invade the Middle East. Contrast 1930's and 40's Germany to 1790's France and you will find that Hitler came to power in very similar fashion as Napoleon! The same can be said for 1920's Russia when it went Communistic (contrast what Russia did after world war II and you will see America mirrored them, for example: They took Eastern Europe we took Western Europe, when they would claim a Middle Eastern Country we would do the same. Both Russia and America are playing by the same nihilistic behavior). By the 1760's the Renaissance came to America and America was born, America is a Renaissance Country, not a Christian (Protestant) country. Once again, Philosophy merged with Theism (Deism) (and then afterward co-opted Protestantism, which is why many American make the assumption that America is a "Christian Country") and the American Renaissance was created. We conquered America, and then we slowly took on the British and defeated them, then by World War II, we conquered Western Europe, North Africa, and now we are conquering the Middle East. America is going through the same cycle of events, civil unrest is bound to happen, there will be a leader in America who will "conquer" America and it will be done by military force. All the while America will suffer a stagnant culture, we already have devalued God and Life in this country, look at today politic's! Nihilism happens when Greek Philosophy merges with Theism, it sparks a "Golden Age" or a "Renaissance", which is sparked due to the high value of life and God within the culture. After time, these values start to devalue, which starts the nihilism process in culture, which leads to civil unrest do to society breaking down, which will then lead to a strong man to arise and take over, and that culture will then (if it has not already) go on a war footing! Does Rose touch on what I have said? Not really, though, I think he would recognize a lot of what I have said to be true, since he does refer to the French Revolution, Russian Revolution, American politics, etc. So I would argue he actually takes a parallel road to what I have argued and he states it through political philosophy, whereas, I argue it through history. I have a B.S. in Philosophy (Toccoa Falls College), and I actively study History, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Political Science, Political History, Theology and other connected fields of study.

Not an easy read for me but a blessed one. I understood what I needed to understand and I’m more thoughtful and aware of the absurdness all around me but I’m more able that ever to say and know: glory to God, all glory to God. The Alpha and Omega and everything in between! ☦️

This book has a lot of value. It's a strong philosophical refutation and questioning of Nihilism and provides a forceful push to the nihilistic individual who must answer this if he or she wants to be consistent in the world. Surprisingly enough, it covers others smaller topics itself like Politics, brief History and the occasional Pseudoscience that was prevalent in Seraphim Rose's time but sadly those secondary topics are brief and don't provide enough to satisfy the urge to know more. However, the main topic is well spoken about and without a doubt its a book that anyone can pick up and understand. Plus it's short so you can't really have an excuse of not reading it.

This small books explains why

This is not an easy read, but it does detail(from the 70s no less) the ills of our times, mainly that we are the lost generation without rules or belief in a supreme being and the cost that has happened before and will happen again for that.

This is a great critiques of Western Classical Liberalism and show the flaws of thinking that are "sacred cows" that are never questioned in the Modernist West. I think many current readers will find this book enlightening since it speaks so well to our situation with the decline of Western Civilization. This work as well as some of Fr. Seraphim Roses's other books are influential in helping guide Orthodox out of the many traps current Orthodox will face and help develop a proper phronema. I've read many of the books written by Fr. Seraphim Rose and they are all great. He is a lively author and his writing style is very informal. Also for those who like this book, I would recommend "The Search for Truth on the Path of Reason," by Alesei I. Osipov, which can be purchased from the publisher. It is a great addition written from an Orthodox perspective.