Nihilism appears now not because unpleasure in existence is greater than it used to be, but because we have become more generally mistrustful of a ‘meaning’ in evil, indeed in existence itself.
One interpretation has perished; but because it was regarded as the interpretation, there now seems to be no meaning at all in existence, everything seems to be in vain. It remains to be shown that this ‘In vain!’ constitutes the character of our present nihilism.
Mistrust of our previous valuations intensifies until it arrives at the question: 'Are not all “values” just decoys that prolong the comedy without ever getting closer to a denouement?’
Continuing with an 'In vain’, without aim and purpose, is the most paralysing thought, especially when one realises one’s being fooled and yet has no power to prevent oneself being fooled.
By Friedrich Nietzsche, from Writings From The Late Notebooks
By Friedrich Nietzsche, from Writings From The Late Notebooks
