Жизнь в эпоху нигилизма: эволюция взглядов Э. Юнгера

Философский журнал. 2024.

Tomashevskaya A.

The question of the status of the individual in the nihilistic era worried many philosophers of
the last century. This issue is also acute in our time. The German thinker Ernst Jünger actively
developed the problem of nihilism throughout his long career. His attitude towards it changed,
among other things, depending on the global historical and political events that filled the past
century. Jünger began with a heroic acceptance of the reality. Early in his career he became
fascinated by the idea of a total workers' state, where a new type of man negates established
values and affirms nothingness. However, the Second World War raised the issue from a new
perspective. How does an individual survive in a total state? How not to lose yourself in mass
ideology? How to preserve individuality in a world of universal uniformity? Finally, Jünger
was interested in the problem of not only affirming nihilism but also overcoming it. The
thinker began to look for ways out of the situation, devoted to it not only philosophical essays,
but also fiction novels, thought a lot about it in his own diaries. Analysing Jünger's large
creative legacy allows us to build a coherent picture of how his thought on the age of nihilism
evolved. Jünger urged every person capable of thinking outside of state categories to turn to
himself, to overcome, first of all, inner nihilism, without which it is impossible to overcome it
outwardly. The thinker offers a variety of answers to the question of nihilism, but still leaves
it open to 21st century society.
 

Keywords: свобода, техника, человек, линия, искусство, technology, person, freedom, нигилизм, worker, nihilism, ничто, nothing, E. Jünger, Э. Юнгер, line, art, Рабочий

Publication based on the results of: Phenomenological Trends in Philosophy in the 20th and 21st centuries: Origins, Influences, Development (2023)