Nihilism and Nietzsche

The Byronic spirit, or its many adaptations, continued to agitate the German mind throughout the century. Friedrich Nietzsche, like Byron in certain moods, claimed to be a scavenger, a hygienist. Schopenhauer&s;s theory of the Will was launched anew, but in a spirit of cosmic affirmation, by Nietzsche, when he wrote the rough drafts of his Will to Power. Nietzsche received some direct stimulus from a perusal of Byron. Nietzsche&s;s theory of nihilism, is, however, equivocal, as it embraces active and passive forms. In its active form, nihilism may unleash destructive powers; in its passive form it tends to Buddhism and dilettantism. The most dangerous phase is reached when nihilism entails a flight from personality, or a revolt against the supremacy of the "natural" lusts and instincts. On the contrary, Nietzsche insists that the endless repetition of phenomena is meaningless, and he dubs his theory "the most extreme form of nihilism".