"Nietzsche and Ernst Jünger: From nihilism to totalitarianism"

by Ohana, David (1989)

Abstract

The aesthetic-nihilistic revolution in western culture initiated by Nietzsche in the nineteenth century was transformed by Ernst Jtinger into a modern vision of technology and a new political pattern of totalitarian nihilism. Over and above 'nihilism'and 'totalitarianism' as such …

Key Passage

The First World War was a watershed point which witnessed a ‘growing transformation of life into energy’.25 Work and war as manifestations of energy for energy’s sake were metaphorical actions deriving from the metaphysics of the will-to-power. Man’s metaphorical mastery of the universe was made possible by modern technology. Man’s mastery of technology had no purpose except mobilisation for its own sake; the result was total mobilisation, in work or war. It represented an active nihilism, or a nihilistic will-to-power. (p.755)

Links to Reference

• https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-6599(89)90263-5
• http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0191-6599(89)90263-5
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/0191-6599(89)90263-5?casa_token=ITUyR4KoXdQAAAAA:6dHaZnwrnXvs7pNyzj9RtiTovfe9fPx45DgKwYD7nA7Typ4i14L8nPhhLgu1WHAN90XKKoyErRVkag

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