Nihilism Beyond Margins: Towards A Reorganization of Forces

Abstract

Nietzsche diagnosed nihilism as a “European problem” that would unfold into different kinds, such as reactive, negative, affirmative. In this paper, I intend to look at some current events of our time under the lens of the nihilism diagnosed by Nietzsche and discussed by Vattimo. My aim is to problematize some questions related to such events and sustain an argument that nihilism is no longer a European event but a global one. I intend to look at specifics of migration in our time in Europe that may reveal that the European nihilism alluded by Nietzsche has spread to other continents, particularly in countries that were previously European colonies. Such countries inherited European values that were imposed onto local cultures, causing the eradication of groups, ways of life, languages, and the disappearance of local epistemologies in which the world disclosed itself in certain ways.

     This caused a violent detachment of local individuals, cultures and values that previously sustained their ways of life. However, since the values that were imposed by Europeans during colonization have lost their meaning, what does the flux of non-European migrants happening in Europe may reveal in relation to the current unfolding of nihilism and what possibilities may it bring for the overcoming of these corrosive forces?  Adding to this complex scenario, Europe (as well as the whole world) is experiencing significant changes in climate that affect directly our interaction with the immanent world. Europeans are already experiencing some of the climate changes that cause displacement in other areas of the world bringing vulnerabilities to areas that previously experienced more steady and controlled environments.  The idea here is to analyse how the confusion that nihilism brings to our time, particularly on the issue of migration and also change in climate, exposes all beings to a kind of vulnerability and, at the same time, if we look carefully, it also could expose strengths of those who have been previous excluded. This, I argue, may lead to a reorganisation of forces.