Optimistic nihilism in thus Spoke Zarathustra and Rick and Morty
Keywords:
existence, life, Rick, meaning, NietzscheAbstract
The question of existence is the latest dilemma plaguing human psyche in the 21st century. Nietzsche advocates against nihilism through the mouthpiece of Zarathustra and traces the need of surpassing naive thinking. Rick and Morty, a comic dealing with cosmic travels and scientific rupture of logic and ethics, explores the possible interpretations of the great meaning of life or the lack of it. Both texts stimulate the intellectual tendency to relate joy with the divine and post it against science. Different dichotomies of joy and sadness spin around in the helix of the comic and the adventures of Zarathustra. Kurzgesagt, a German-made animation and design studio founded by Philipp Dettmer, illustrates an outlook that can emulate joy or contentment in a universe devoid of meaning or purpose. Their ‘optimistic nihilism’ can synergise the crown of existentialism and reality of nihilism.
Downloads
References
Batara, R., Ardani, I. G. A. I., Wardani, I. A. K., Windiani, I. G. A. T., Adnyana, I. G. A. N. S., & Setiawati, Y. (2022). Psychogenic dysphagia in children, and the success of family-based treatment: Case report. International Journal of Health & Medical Sciences, 5(1), 163-168. https://doi.org/10.21744/ijhms.v5n1.1894
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts. Grove Press, Inc, 1975.
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, et al. The Brothers Karamazov: Introduction by Malcolm Jones (Everyman’s Library). 1st ed., Everyman’s Library, 1992.
Flanagan, Owen, and Gregg D. Caruso. ‘Neuroexistentialism’. Oxford Scholarship Online, 2018. Crossref, doi:10.1093/oso/9780190460723.003.0001.
Gregerson, Linda. Negative Capability: Contemporary American Poetry (Poets On Poetry). 1st ed., University of Michigan Press, 2001.
Groves, Christopher. ‘Metaphysics to Metafictions’. New Nietzsche Studies, vol. 3, no. 3, 1999, pp. 107–09. Crossref, doi:10.5840/newnietzsche199933/417.
Hansen, Stig Borsen. ‘Metaphysical Nihilism and Cosmological Arguments: Some Tractarian Comments’. European Journal of Philosophy, vol. 20, no. 2, 2010, pp. 223–42. Crossref, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0378.2010.00409.x.
Jones, Josh. ‘The Philosophy of “Optimistic Nihilism,” Or How to Find Purpose in a Meaningless Universe’. Open Culture, 2 July 2018, www.openculture.com/2017/10/the-philosophy-of-optimistic-nihilism-or-how-to-find-purpose-in-a-meaningless-universe.html.
Kafka, Franz. The Bucket Rider. London, Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer, 1921.
Kaufmann, Walter. The Portable Nietzsche, the Viking Portable Library. The Viking Press, 1964.
Kurzgesagt. ‘Optimistic Nihilism’. YouTube, uploaded by Philipp Dettmer, 26 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBRqu0YOH14&t=6s.
Miranda, Lucas. ‘The Self Is Dead – Alienation and Nihilism in Rick and Morty’. Class Race Corporate Power, vol. 5, no. 3, 2017.
Nietzsche, Frederich. The Gay Science (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy). Dover Publications, 2020.
Nietzsche, Frederich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Penguin Books, 1978.
Nietzsche, Friedrich, and Walter Kaufmann. The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs. 1st ed., Vintage, 1974.
Nietzsche, Friedrich, Daniel Breazeale, et al. Nietzsche: Untimely Meditations (Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy). 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Nietzsche, Friedrich, Michael Tanner, et al. The Birth of Tragedy: Out of the Spirit of Music (Penguin Classics). Unknown, Penguin Classics, 1994.
Nietzsche, Friedrich, Oscar Levy, et al. The Will to Power (Volumes I and II). Digireads.com, 2010.
Ovodova, Svetlana N., and Dmitry V. Dobrotvorskiy. ‘The Narrative of Science and Irony in «Rick and Morty»: Metamodernism vs Postmodernism’. Herald of Omsk University, vol. 25, no. 3, 2020, pp. 54–60. Crossref, doi:10.24147/1812-3996.2020.25(3).54-60.
Sartre, Jean-Paul, et al. Existentialism Is a Humanism. Annotated, Yale University Press, 2007.
Schmidt, Raymond. Atheistic Existentialism [Leather Bound]. Generic, 2022.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, et al. Ozymandias. Serenity Audiobooks, 2021.
Starks, Kyle, et al. Rick and Morty Book Eight: Deluxe Edition (8). Deluxe, Oni Press, 2022.
Watts, Alan. The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. Vintage, 1989.
Widana, I.K., Sumetri, N.W., Sutapa, I.K., Suryasa, W. (2021). Anthropometric measures for better cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 29(3), 550–561. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.22202
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2022 International journal of health sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Articles published in the International Journal of Health Sciences (IJHS) are available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authors retain copyright in their work and grant IJHS right of first publication under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Users have the right to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles in this journal, and to use them for any other lawful purpose.
Articles published in IJHS can be copied, communicated and shared in their published form for non-commercial purposes provided full attribution is given to the author and the journal. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
This copyright notice applies to articles published in IJHS volumes 4 onwards. Please read about the copyright notices for previous volumes under Journal History.
