A Sunny Nihilism? (w/ Wendy Syfret and Kevin Currie-Knight)

January 03, 2022 00:56:51
A Sunny Nihilism? (w/ Wendy Syfret and Kevin Currie-Knight)
Sophia
A Sunny Nihilism? (w/ Wendy Syfret and Kevin Currie-Knight)

Jan 03 2022 | 00:56:51

/

Show Notes

Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) chats with Wendy Syfret (VICE Asia) about her new book The Sunny Nihilist: How a Meaningless Life Can Make You Truly Happy. They talk about such things as why the modern world relentlessly seeks meaning in everything, whether nihilism is a viable or liberating response, and whether/how nihilism is reconcilable with strong belief and activism.

3:00 - What is nihilism?
10:35 - When did Wendy come to nihilsm and find it liberating?
16:48 - Why do we in the modern world "find" meaning in everything?
25:41 - Why does "finding" objective meaning satisfy more than creating subjective meaning?
30:38 - Are the young generally more nihilistic than their elders? Where is nihilism in pop culture?
38:59 - How to reconcile nihilism with activism (another thing that Wendy cares about)?

Other Episodes

Episode

August 09, 2019 01:27:00
Episode Cover

Western Philosophy as White Supremacism (Daniel Kaufman & Crispin Sartwell)

Crispin's recent essay, "Western Philosophy as White Supremacism" ... Dan accuses Crispin of ahistorical revisionism ... Descartes as a product of his age ......

Listen

Episode

February 18, 2020 01:34:33
Episode Cover

"Uncut Gems" and "Dolemite Is My Name" (Daniel Kaufman & Milton Lawson)

In praise of Uncut Gems ... Why does Adam Sandler's dirtbag character evince such sympathy? ... Punishment and forgiveness in narrative storytelling ... In...

Listen

Episode 0

February 09, 2021 01:45:34
Episode Cover

Philosophy and the Foster Care System (with Kevin Currie-Knight and Andrew Jason Cohen)

Kevin Currie-Knight (East Carolina University) and Andrew Jason Cohen (Georgia State University) are both philosophers who have experience providing foster homes to children. In...

Listen