Specter of the Absurd: Sources and Criticisms of Modern Nihilism

941 Pages·1968·2.3 MB·English

by  Donald A. Crosby

The Specter of the Absurd : Sources and
title: Criticisms of Modern Nihilism SUNY
Series in Philosophy
author: Crosby, Donald A.
publisher: State University of New York Press
isbn10 | asin: 0887067204
print isbn13: 9780887067204
ebook isbn13: 9780585063362
language: English
subject Nihilism (Philosophy)
publication date: 1988
lcc: B828.3.C76 1988eb
ddc: 149/.8
subject: Nihilism (Philosophy)
Page i
The Specter of the Absurd
Page ii
SUNY Series in Philosophy
Robert Cummings Neville, Editor
Page iii
The Specter of the Absurd
Sources and Criticisms of Modern Nihilism
Donald A. Crosby
State University of New York Press
Page iv
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 1988 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information, address State University of New York Press, State
University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Crosby, Donald A.
The specter of the absurd: sources and criticisms of modern
nihilism/by
Donald A. Crosby.
p. cm.(SUNY series in Philosophy)
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
ISBN 0-88706-719-0. ISBN 0-88706-720-4 (pbk.)
1. Nihilism. I. Title. II. Series.
B828.3.C76 1988
149'.8dc19 87-20917
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Page v
T C
O HARLOTTE
In gratitude for the meaning she gives to my life.
Page vii
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Part One: Introduction
1. Experiencing the Absurd 1
2. Types of Nihilism 8
Part Two: Arguments for Nihilism
3. Arguments About God, Nature, Suffering, and Time 38
4. Arguments About Reason, Will, and Other Persons 76
Part Three: A Critical Look at Religious Sources of
Nihilism
5. Anthropocentrism, Externality of Value, and Religion 122
as Theism
6. God's All-Seeing Eye, Search for Certainty, and 137
Deprecation of the World
Part Four: A Critical Look at Philosophical Sources of
Nihilism
7. Correspondence-Substance and the Hegemony of 174
Science
8. Truth Through Method and Seeds of Nihilism in the 200
Thought of Descartes
9. The Subjectivist Turn in Epistemology, Philosophy of 241
Language, and Ethics
10. Social-Political Individualism, Fact-Value Dichotomy, 288
and Primacy of Will
Part Five: Final Appraisal
11. The Case Against Nihilism: Lessons and Refutations 352
Notes 381
Bibliography 417
Index of Names 439
Index of Subjects 448
Page viii
Anyone who is to think creatively today has to be able to confront the
nothingness of positivism and existentialism and appropriate them; and this
means, not destroy them without a trace, but lift them up into a new ownness
in which the very strength of their bitter opposition feeds the growth of a new
affirmation.
Albert Hofstadter
(1974:146)
Page ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted to my colleagues in the Department of Philosophy at
Colorado State University for their interest in this work and for their
insightful advice and criticism during its preparation. James W. Boyd,
Willard O. Eddy, and Holmes Rolston, III, labored tirelessly on
successive chapters of an earlier draft of the entire manuscript. Robert
W. Jordan and Ron G. Williams each criticized some of the pages of
that draft. An expression of thanks is also due to Judy Schindler, who
rendered invaluable assistance in editing the manuscript and preparing
the index, as well as in suggesting ways to improve the book's
content. My wife, Charlotte, not only gave me the benefit of her own
careful readings of the emerging book but also provided a constant
encouragement and support for which I am deeply grateful.
I wish to express my appreciation to the Endowment Fund of the
Department of Philosophy and the Professional Development Program
of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Colorado
State University for grants to defray expenses of putting the
manuscript in its final form. My thanks go as well to William
Eastman, Director of the State University of New York Press, for his
early support and his unfailing patience and courtesy in working with
me on this project. In addition, I want to acknowledge the
contributions of many friends in the Rocky-MountainGreat Plains
Region of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical
Literature, friends who faithfully attended my readings of papers
based on sections of the book and raised provocative questions about
some of my interpretations and claims. Finally, I thank the students
who through the years have been enrolled in versions of a class on
"Nihilism in the Modern Age." Whatever may be of value in this
volume is due in no small measure to these students' thoughtful