Financial capitalism seems to be driven by a form of nihilism. It is worth exploring the philosophical implications of this word, whose root is the Latin word for 'nothing', nihil. In Nietzsche, the concept of nihilism refers to the absence of an ontological foundation of judgement. In his vision, moral judgement is not based on a metaphysical basis, but on the will of men.
In The Dawn of Day the philosopher writes:
'The illusion of the moral order of the Universe. –There is no 'eternal justice' which requires that every fault shall be atoned and paid for, –the belief that such a justice existed was a terrible delusion, and useful only to a limited extent; just as it is also a delusion that everything is guilt which is felt as such. It is not the things themselves, but the opinions about things that do not exist, which have been such a source of trouble to mankind.'
According to Heidegger's interpretation of Nietzsche's thought, the absence of a metaphysical truth, and the consequent lack of objectively existing moral values, confers the responsibility of knowledge and moral choice to the act of interpretation, and to the act of will. We could call this conception a form of 'hermeneutic nihilism'.
This form of nihilism assumes that the conceptual activity is based on the ontological nihil. In this conception, this form of nihilism has a positive and constructive implication, as the condition of moral freedom and of conceptual creation. Nihil is the starting point of the conceptual and practical process, and from this starting point the conceptual and historical activity of men is responsible for the creation and meaning of the world as we know it. The form of nihilism that seems to prevail in the culture and practice of the ruling class today is quite different from this constructive, hermeneutic nihilism. We could call it a form of 'annihilating nihilism', since it actively produces nihil as its effect.
Hermeneutic nihilism originated from the realization that the world is not a place in which an ontological essence is embodied, or a moral truth is revealed, but the place where meaning is continually created by the conscious activity of men. Conversely, annihilating nihilism actively destroys the shared values (both moral values and economic values) produced in the past by human production and democratic political regulation, in order to affirm the primacy of the abstract force of money.
Franco Berardi, Heroes: Mass Murder and Suicide.
In The Dawn of Day the philosopher writes:
'The illusion of the moral order of the Universe. –There is no 'eternal justice' which requires that every fault shall be atoned and paid for, –the belief that such a justice existed was a terrible delusion, and useful only to a limited extent; just as it is also a delusion that everything is guilt which is felt as such. It is not the things themselves, but the opinions about things that do not exist, which have been such a source of trouble to mankind.'
According to Heidegger's interpretation of Nietzsche's thought, the absence of a metaphysical truth, and the consequent lack of objectively existing moral values, confers the responsibility of knowledge and moral choice to the act of interpretation, and to the act of will. We could call this conception a form of 'hermeneutic nihilism'.
This form of nihilism assumes that the conceptual activity is based on the ontological nihil. In this conception, this form of nihilism has a positive and constructive implication, as the condition of moral freedom and of conceptual creation. Nihil is the starting point of the conceptual and practical process, and from this starting point the conceptual and historical activity of men is responsible for the creation and meaning of the world as we know it. The form of nihilism that seems to prevail in the culture and practice of the ruling class today is quite different from this constructive, hermeneutic nihilism. We could call it a form of 'annihilating nihilism', since it actively produces nihil as its effect.
Hermeneutic nihilism originated from the realization that the world is not a place in which an ontological essence is embodied, or a moral truth is revealed, but the place where meaning is continually created by the conscious activity of men. Conversely, annihilating nihilism actively destroys the shared values (both moral values and economic values) produced in the past by human production and democratic political regulation, in order to affirm the primacy of the abstract force of money.
Franco Berardi, Heroes: Mass Murder and Suicide.