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Nihilism and Responsibility in the Writings of Karl Jaspers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Mats Andrén
Mats Andrén*
Affiliation:
Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion, University of Gothenburg, PO Box 200, SE 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe the connection of the concepts of nihilism and responsibility in the writings of Karl Jaspers. The article starts with his early writings in the late 1910s and traces his use of nihilism until the late 1950s. Jaspers first defines nihilism in a general, anthropological sense. It is essential to the human condition, which involves questioning everything. However, as his critique of contemporary society evolves, nihilism is treated as the impetus behind concrete threats such as National Socialism and the Second World War, as well as the post-war nuclear arms race.

Type
Focus: Nihilism
Information
European Review , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 209 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 2014 

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References

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