#651 Bernard Reginster - The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism
RECORDED ON APRIL 29th 2022.
Dr. Bernard Reginster is Professor of Philosophy at Brown University. Dr. Reginster’s research has focused mostly on issues in ethics, metaethics, and moral psychology in 19th century German philosophy. His new research interests include the topics of identity and intersubjectivity, for which he considers ideas from psychoanalytic theory, 20th century Continental philosophy, and contemporary Anglo-Saxon philosophy. He is the author of The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism, which offers a comprehensive interpretation of Nietzsche’s ethical thought and includes substantial new interpretations of some of his immediate predecessors, particularly Schopenhauer.
In this episode, we talk about The Affirmation of Life. We start by asking if Nietzsche’s philosophy was systematic at all. We get into nihilism, its relationship with pessimism, where our values stem from, how we can revaluate them, and life-negating and life-affirming values. We talk about happiness, suffering, meaningfulness, and master and slave morality.
Time Links:
Intro
Was Nietzsche’s thinking systematic?
Nihilism, according to Nietzsche
The relationship between nihilism and pessimism
Where our values stem from
Revaluating our values
Life-negating and life-affirming values
Can we really create new values?
Should people seek happiness?
Does life need to be meaningful?
The role of suffering
Does the master lead a better life than the slave?
How can one overcome nihilism?
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Follow Dr. Reginster’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3b4ZLi4
PhilPeople page: https://bit.ly/3b5UXZK
Amazon page: https://amzn.to/3gK3OUG
The Affirmation of Life: https://amzn.to/35IhwB4