Nihilism as a challenge of modern times in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche

The paper analyses the concept of nihilism in philosophy of Frederick Nietzsche. Although it is one of the most important problems in late Nietzsche’s philosophy, it is worth pointing out that already in the early theory of tragedy, as presented in The Birth of Tragedy, one can find quite a few similarities to the problem of nihilism. Nihilism itself is defined in the paper as a challenge, as there is a lot of ambivalence in how Nietzsche describes it. On one hand he sees nihilism as a dangerous sign of a disease of some sorts, on the other hand he recognises it as a unique chance to overcome the crisis, in which we find ourselves today, amidst the “death of God” and the failure of old values. Nihilism can be therefore understood as a challenge or even an existential task, because although it is a sign of a crisis of contemporary culture, it is also the only way to overcome this crisis. It is through nihilism that it is possible, according to Nietzsche, to get rid of dangerous, metaphysical thinking still prevalent in our culture. Only through that it is possible to revaluate all the values, and thus create a new way of thinking, in which world and life gain absolute value through themselves, not through some transcendental, metaphysical values. This in turn becomes the lifeblood for an existential attitude of amor fati, which is an attitude of loving one’s own fate and full affirmation of life.