TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
…………………………………………………i
Certification………………………………………………………...ii
Dedication………………………………………………………….iii
Acknowledgement………………………………………………….iv
Table of Contents …………………………..……………………..vi
CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction…………………………………………………….1
1.2 Nietzsche’s biography…………...……………………………..4
1.2 Statement of the problem……………………….5
1.3 Purpose of the study ……………………………………………7
1.4 Scope of the study………………………………………………7
1.5
Methodology ……………………………………………………7
CHAPTER
TWO
THE
CONCEPT OF NIHILISM
2.1 Notion of nihilism………………………………………..8
2.2 Nihilism in the history of
thought………..9
2.3 Kinds of Nihilism ………………………………19
CHAPTER
THREE
NIHILSM
IN NIETZSCHE
3.1
Preliminary remark…………………………………….23
3.2
Background of Nietzschean nihilism………………..23
3.3
God is dead; Nietzsche’s nihilistic thought……….24
3.4 Implication of Nietzsche’s
nihilism………………….28
CHAPTER
FOUR
EXPOSITION
OF NIGERIAN SITUATION
4.1
Preliminary remark……………………..32
4.2
Moral nihilism…………………………………..33
4.3
Religious nihilism……………………………………….36
4.4
Educational nihilism…………………………….42
4.5
Economic nihilism……………………………………47
4.6
Political nihilism………………………………………..49
CHAPTER
FIVE
CRITICAL
EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Evaluation………………………………………………………….57
5.2
Conclusion…………………………………………………………62
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………….63
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1
INTRODUCTION
In the history
of thought, Nietzsche occupies a fundamental position especially in the
contemporary era. His ideas and postulations are not only thought provoking but
brain storming; not so much because of his originality but for daring the
‘undared’. In the light of this, Copleston confirmed: “For whatever one may
think about Nietzsche’s ideas, one cannot question his vast reputation and the
power of his ideas to act like a potent wine in the minds of a good many
people”.Nietzsche’s fame is not busted by his
postulations of the Superman, Eternal Return, Transvaluation of Values and not
even the Will to Power. The landmark that makes him remembered today is his
famous nihilistic acclamation ‘God is dead!’ Nietzsche identified this calamity
with European nihilism. The European culture, once a religious culture, had
become religionless. However, since this culture was built on the foundation of
the Christian religion, the death of God in the hearts of the 19th
century European meant the collapse of the foundation of their culture, moral
values, tradition, and this was for Nietzsche a tragedy. To buttress this
Omoregbe opined: “Nietzsche foresaw
and predicted in a prophetic way that Europe was heading for a period of gloom
and eclipse, a period of instability, aimlessness, emptiness and darknes”. Furthermore, in his magnum opus ‘The
Will To Power’ Nietzsche wrote:
What I relate is the history of the two
centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the
advent of nihilism…for sometime now, our whole European culture
has been moving as toward a catastrophe, with a tortured tension that is
growing from decade to decade: restless, violently, headlong, like a river that
wants to reach the end, that no longer reflects, that is afraid to reflect.
With regard to Nigerian situation, there is no gainsaying the fact that
Nietzschean nihilistic principles have been directly translated into Nigerian
experience. Nigerian situation is that whereby the concept of God has become a
dead concept. This is so because God is dead in the hearts of Nigerians.
Consequently everything is permitted; nothing is meaningful and nothing works,
no central objective and rallying point. Morality is thrown to dogs and meaning
goes with it. This explains why there are crisis, violence, lawlessness,
assassination, armed robbery, embezzlement, injustice, anarchy and chaos in
Nigerian society and this without mincing words or exaggeration is what I
identified as Nigeria in nihilism. However to explore Nigerian nihilism with
clarity and precision, and to bring it to limelight; moral nihilism, religious
nihilism, educational nihilism, economic nihilism and political nihilism,
remains the focal point of this memoir. Hence, what does Nietzsche mean by
nihilism? What are the consequences and implications? And how do we evaluate
Nietzschean nihilism with regard to Nigerian situation?
This project
is divided into five chapters. Chapter one introduces the whole frame of the
study with the general introduction and methodology. It further states the
problem, the purpose of the study and the scope of the study. Chapter two
focuses on definition of the term nihilism and traces its historical account in
the history of thought, which is literature review. Chapter three centres on
nihilism in Nietzsche where we shall see what he meant by nihilism and its
implication. The exposition of Nigerian situation where we shall witness the
influence of Nietzschean nihilism in Nigerian society is the proper locus of
chapter four. Chapter five takes care of evaluation and conclusion. It is this
final chapter that bears my opinion concerning the topic.
1.2 NIETZSCHE’S BIOGRAPHY
Fredrick Wilhelm Nietzsche was born in October 15th 1844 at
Rocken in Prussian Saxony (present day Germany), into a family where his father
and grandfather were Lutheran pastors. When Nietzsche was barely five years,
his father died. Consequently, he was brought up at Naumburg in the feminine
company of his mother, sister, grandmother and two aunts. Between 1854 and 1864
he studied at Pforta. There, his admiration for Greek thought was ignited, as
he was particularly attracted to the Greeks gods, writing of Plato, Aristotle
and Aeschylus. In October 1864, Nietzsche went to the University of Bonn. Later
that year he moved to Leipzig, to further his philosophical studies under
Ritsch. During his stay in Leipzig, Friedrich gradually abandoned Christianity,
occupying his mind with atheism of Schopenhauer. As at 1869, Friedrich
Nietzsche was appointed professor at Basel at the age of 24 years.
In the years between 1869 and 1889, Nietzsche had published a lot of
works including ‘The Dawn of Day’, ‘Joyful Wisdom’, ‘The Birth of Tragedy’,
‘Beyond Good and Evil’ and ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’, etc. From his
multiple works, he was able to posit ideas of the Superman; The Will to Power,
Eternal Return, and God is Dead etc. As at 1888, with the publication of the Antichrist
and Ecce Homo, clear signs of mental disorder manifested in Nietzsche.
Though he was hospitalised in January 1889, he never recovered fully from the
insanity till the end of his life. He died on August 25th 1900.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.
We live in the era when men are more concerned
with power, pleasure, wealth and connection than character formation. An era
when Hobbesian theory of man being wolf to man, the Machiavellian principle of
might is right, and the Darwinian evolutionism of survival of the fittest are
not only accepted but also cherished and adopted as the guiding principle in human
relation. Today, what matters is how successful one is, with little or no
regard to the means of the attainment of that success thus instead of the means
justifying the end, the reverse is the case. Thus honesty is disregarded,
indolence is extolled, probity is derided, and ostentation is paraded. Hence,
there is apparent disregard of rule of law. Crime is committed with impunity.
Therefore, there is loss of order and the society is chaotic.
This is not unconnected with Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche’s
nihilistic proclamation. Having seen the meaninglessness, nothingness and
absurdity of Judeo/Christian belief in God, Nietzsche announced to the world
his shocking discovery that “God is dead”. He does
not simply say that God does not exist, but that God is dead. What a
catastrophe? Strengthening this, Omoregbe opined that: “What formerly gave meaning and sense of direction to human existence
is no longer there. Men are now left simply with nothing, with emptiness and a
meaningless existence”. Thus, the nothingness and nihilism of human existence,
according to Nietzsche is the consequences of the death of God. It is this
apparent lack of meaning and nihilism is what we are experiencing in Nigeria today.
The situation in Nigeria has grown worse that she is “being described in
international circles as the second most corrupt country in the world”, by The Transparency International. It
is to elicit this cankerworm or virus and to quarantine it that is the major
problem of which this research sets out to resolve.
1.4 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Among philosophers, the term ‘nihilism’ is mostly associated with
Nietzsche. Thus, the sole aim or purpose of this project is to make clear what
Nietzsche meant by nihilism and to see how far this has affected the situation
in Nigeria.
1.5 THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Even though
Nietzsche said many things, this study is limited to his idea of death of God,
from which Nietzsche’s nihilism is interpreted. Nigerian situation is also a
follow up to Nietzsche’s nihilistic doctrine.
1.6 METHODOLOGY
This work is purely
expository, interpretative and evaluative. Radically, Nietzsche’s dictum ‘God
is dead’ is exposed as it were, which forms the base from which his nihilism is
interpreted. This is followed by critical evaluation of Nigerian situation
using Nietzsche’s nihilism as guideline.
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