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book1994

Nihilism

Disciplines:
philosophy
philosophy/modernity
religion/russian orthodoxy
religion/seraphim rose

Summary

Father Seraphim Rose's 1994 posthumously published analysis of the nihilist trajectory of modern Western thought — arguing from an Orthodox Christian perspective that liberalism, realism, vitalism, and destructivism represent four stages of Western civilization's progressive abandonment of truth.

Core Contribution

Provides the Orthodox Christian diagnosis of Western nihilism's four stages — Rose argues that once the West abandoned the Orthodox Christian understanding of absolute truth, it was inevitable that it would pass through liberalism (relative truth is sufficient), realism (power replaces truth), vitalism (life-force replaces power), and destructivism (nothing is left to oppose destruction).

Historical Influences

Seraphim Rose

Intellectual Lineage

Hieromonk Seraphim RoseSt. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood

Allied Works

The Suicide of the West Dominion

Contemporaries & Peers

The Suicide of the West A Secular Age

Minds Influenced

Orthodox Christian thoughtTraditional Christianity critique of modernityHistory 102

Intellectual Posterity

Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern AgeSeraphim Rose as Orthodox thinker

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