/lit/ - Literature

>>22218549
fpbp

Is this book good or bad? I can't seem to ger a straight answer out of you faggots.

>>20534562

"Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age" by Fr. Seraphim Rose is relevant to what you want.

It talks from the perspective that Nihilism is the affirmation of the position: "There is no absolute truth." Liberalism, therefore, is a phase of Nihilism in which it holds no truth to be absolute, but it affirms vague values such as "the human spirit" or "freedom", while ignoring the fact that there is no way to keep a hold of these beliefs, since everything is permitted to be believed, since there is no absolute truth.

https://www.docdroid.net/SlxAMji/nihilism-seraphim-rose-pdf#page=4

>The Liberalism we shall describe in the following pages is not--let us state at the outset--an overt Nihilism; it is rather a passive Nihilism, or, better yet, the neutral breeding-ground of the more advanced stages of Nihilism. Those who have followed our earlier discussion concerning the impossibility of spiritual or intellectual "neutrality" in this world will understand immediately why we have classified as Nihilist a point of view which, while not directly responsible for any striking Nihilist phenomena, has been an indispensable prerequisite for their appearance. The incompetent defence by Liberalism of a heritage in which it has never fully believed, has been one of the most potent causes of overt Nihilism...

>The Liberal still speaks, at least on formal occasions, of "eternal verities," of "faith," of "human dignity," of man's "high calling" or his "unquenchable spirit," even of "Christian civilization"; but it is quite clear that these words no longer mean what they once meant. No Liberal takes them with entire seriousness; they are in fact metaphors, ornaments of language that are meant to evoke an emotional, not an intellectual, response--a response largely conditioned by long usage, with the attendant memory of a time when such words actually had a positive and serious meaning...

>No one today who prides himself on his "sophistication"--that is to say, very few in academic institutions, in government, in science, in humanist intellectual circles, no one who wishes or professes to be abreast of the "times"--does or can fully believe in absolute truth, or more particularly in Christian Truth. Yet the name of truth has been retained, as have been the names of those truths men once regarded as absolute, and few in any position of authority or influence would hesitate to use them, even when they are aware that their meanings have changed. Truth, in a word, has been "reinterpreted"; the old forms have been emptied and given a new, quasi-Nihilist content. This may easily be seen by a brief examination of several of the principal areas in which truth has been "reinterpreted."

>>20511824

Then are people just being pseuds when they equate "nihilism" with pessimistic sentiment?

Nihilism is the foundational problem and you can't sentiment your way out of it.

Pic related for a work covering the unfolding of nihilism into every corner of modern life.

>But if "apology" is far from our intention in these pages, neither is our aim mere diatribe. It is not sufficient, for example, to condemn Nazism or Bolshevism for their "barbarism," "gangsterism," or "anti-intellectualism," and the artistic or literary avant-garde for their
"pessimism" or "exhibitionism"; nor is it enough to defend the "democracies" in the name of "civilization," "progress," or "humanism," or for their advocacy of "private property" or "civil liberties." Such arguments, while some of them possess a certain justice, are really quite beside the point; the blows of Nihilism strike too deep, its program is far too radical, to be effectively countered by them. Nihilism has error for its root, and error can be conquered only by Truth. Most of the criticism of Nihilism is not directed to this root at all, and the reason for this--as we shall see--is that Nihilism has become, in our time, so widespread and pervasive, has entered so thoroughly and so deeply into the minds and hearts of all men living today, that there is no longer any "front" on which it may be fought; and those who think they are fighting it are most often using its own weapons, which they in effect turn against themselves.

>>20253335
Only good answer in this thread

>>20226350

Nihilism: The Root of the Modern Revolution by Orthodox Christian Hieromonk Fr. Seraphim Rose.

https://archive.org/details/fr-seraphim-rose-nihilism-the-root-of-the-revolution-of-the-modern-age

It has a different definition of Nihilism than what people tend to say. Most people equate nihilism with pessimistic fatalism, but here, Nihilism just means the idea that "There is no truth."

He identifies that this idea that "There is no truth" has been dogmatic in the west for the past few hundred years, and how this idea naturally unfolds in stages, each stage more destructive than the last.

>>19234335
Atheism, leads to nihilism, leads to cynicism.
Take the Godpill.
Unironically.

>>18828163
The Bible, then pic related

>>18716220

A good one to start with is Nihilism by Fr Seraphim Rose, link to pdf here -> https://www.docdroid.net/SlxAMji/nihilism-seraphim-rose-pdf

It's basically a giant pill on what society at large believes, how it enters into our lives practically, how it eventually unfolds over time, and why it fails to work.

Other than that, Plato's dialogues that have Socrates in them are pretty good and simple - they're refreshing, compared to modern writing, because they're actually talking as if they want to figure out what the truth of a matter is, what goodness is, what justice is, etc. The simplicity of approach, of actually wanting to know the truth, is the most important part of them.

Have any of you read this, what did you think of it?

>>17737830
Read some Dostoyevsky, Cs Luis, and Chesterton

not necessarily a feel good book tho.

>>15332608
No. Read pic related and also this: https://www.comparativereligion.com/index.html

>>13926711
read this

>>13923201
Apostolic Christianity