The Failed Ubermensch: Dostoevsky's warning on Nihilism - Crime & Punishment video essay 

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just read crime and punishment a month ago, truly one of the greatest books and I am using it as inspiration for demonstrating philosophy through video games as Dostoevsky demonstrated philosophy through fiction and literature, it gets to the heart of our intuitions and mind, the very phenomenological make-up of our lives is scrutinized through fiction and this is why Dostoevsky is such a brilliant author

Nihilism on its own may be detrimental to some but it can also lead to more powerful and enlightening philosophies like existentialism

Excelente. Qué trabajo.

I really appreciate the application of this book as a text against nihilism rather than as a text against atheism and moral anti-realism. I was expecting to see the typical ‘without god everything is permitted’ argument but instead this video details a more personal and psychological matter of the metaphysical value we find in certain concepts and how we can approach these concepts to avoid falling into the pit of nihilism.

The thing that sticks with me most is that in the Dostoevsky book there is a sceen with a man beating to death his horse, for no reason. I am struck by this because I have also heard Nietzsche near the end of his life came across such an event and broke down in tears running to and comforting the hose saying "we are the same". Such a strange parallel when you also showcase this book against the Neitzsche book.

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood critiqued the idea of Ubermensch very well. A character tried to become God by separating himself from his human origins and ended up failing. I think the moral was that you are human and you wont be more than that, but being a human is already more than enough. 10/10 recommend!

More Dostoevsky pls!!!!

Wonderful video!

The death of god? Which god? Xlnt presentation! The Brothers Karamazov, The Fall, Invisible Man.

I hope you guys make a video discussion with the question "should the rich help the poor?". Thank you☺️

Brilliant v Brilliant Video mate! Great visuals aswell. I don't think there's an answer to life's meaning unless you have faith. All we can observe is that this life we live is very much absurd. d

Okay, so I don't comment that often anymore but I did feel like the questions you raised at the end were very interesting, so(Also, I'm aware that discussions of religion can get heated and I would understand if anybody disagrees with me but do so calmly and logically, heck it might lead to an interesting debate): 1-I think it certainly can be but only if we find something to replace religion with, otherwise the world may indeed fall victim to Nihilism and immorality, We do have a lot of secular philosophy focused on ethics and meaning and I feel like a potential way to restore morality and purpose is to make them an important part of school and university curricula worldwide and also part of people's everyday lives later on somehow, but to prevent what happened in Crime and Punishment we should also discuss criticisms of these theories(I like Nietzsche's idea of the Ubermensch and trying to be the best version of yourself a lot but I do find his stance on morality to be rather troubling and considering this book's message and Nietzsche's controversial reputation as a philosopher, I doubt I'm the only one) 2- Well, this is a tough one, I feel like there are actions that are more or less universally considered evil(murder and torture)but there are areas where different people will have different stances( like abortion or polyamory), again, I feel like there are scenarios where murder and torture can be justified or at least be understandable depending on a specific context( like the example you had in your video about Liberty where you brought up a situation where torturing someone who has placed a bomb to learn where it is to save others or killing someone in self-defense), so ultimately, I would argue that while there are some actions which are inherently evil, they can be justified in certain contexts so, I'd say we do not have objective moral truth, however, I do feel like the answer to the second part of this question is a strong yes, I want you to imagine a world where nobody has no conception of morality at all, that world would be pure chaos, I feel like morality is why we have societies in the first place otherwise we would have stayed in nature along with other creatures and wouldn't be anywhere near where we are now. 3-No, there are several secular schools of philosophy devoted to ethics( like Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics) and there are also cases where people act religiously but unethically(The Crusaders). 4-Well, not necessarily, There still might be a god(as in a creator for our universe, but they might be different than how we have expected them to be, It is possible that we may have also gotten some things right about this god maybe not, however, I feel like the validity of religious texts as a perfect guide to the world has been undermined for good since even if everything else in these texts is right we still have flaws about the birth of humanity and the age of the planet, however, there are still lessons in religion that can be separated and applied in everyday life even if some of the facts it tried to describe the world are wrong(like Jesus's idea of loving your fellow man is capable of producing a lot of good in the world). Regarding metaphysical theories about god and the creation of our universe, I feel like the idea of a type omega civilization having created our universe in order to benefit them in some way seems very plausible(like maybe as an energy resource)or maybe, less terrifyingly Spinoza's God(as a sort of harmonious force with nature).

This video is your magnum opus. The message is huge! That’s what happened to Hitler and Putin. You saved my religious beliefs !

Kindly Make Videos on Post-Modernism.

:00 such an intresting essay can you explain stoicism with john pls?? my sister rlly likes the stoic thing but she cant explain it to me :((

Anton Chigurh;;;;; No Country for Old Men

One point made in this video that I think is worth emphasizing would be the fact that nihilism is indeed the logical conclusion that follows from an atheistic worldview. Of course, you could replace that nihilism with existentialism, or even absurdism, (which often lead to hedonism) but that is merely an escape from nihilism the same way a drug like heroin or LSD is an escape from reality.

Nowadays people just fill the void with video games and porn.

CAN YOU PLEASE DEBSTE DEJA VU

I know that people dont want to admit that evangelicals or religious fundamentalists are correct when they say without God there is no morality, but they are correct. If one rigorously follows modern science one ends up with some very disturbing ideas. Thankfully no one actually rigorously follows it; Neitzsche made good points here. The main ethical theories today just dont make sense. Look at consequentialism for example, it is premised on the idea of maximizing the good for the greatest number of people. One needs more detail for that to be applicable to the world so consequentialists almost always choose pleasure to maximize; this almost always involves the idea that because pleasure is natural it is good. However much of modernity is premised on the idea that nature is not normative. If nature doesn't give two shits about us and we can bend it to our will then why should we care what it says? The other is Kant's account of self legislation which doesn't really work. First depending on which version one uses, it is not even secular. The other is the whole idea that people can be bound to a law that they are the authors of law is just absurd. If we can change law however we want, then sure our actions will follow the law; it is just true in the most trivial of sense. In order to be bound by law, it has to apply even when we don't want it to apply. Kantians will say that this isn't what Kant means but that is hard to square with his claims that morality is self-legislated and not legislated and that one cannot have knowledge of things in themselves which one would need in order to know the structure of reason or the nature of the human person. Kant's self legislation just devolves into a Neitzschian account of self legislation which is might makes right. The main ethical theories of modernity try to show that a morality can exist without the existence of God but often fails on its own terms.

People who call themselves"happy nihilists" and even write books about it, need to watch this video to realize what a absurd thing that is to say.

First!!!!

Use batter voice

There is no god only evolution

Do we need god? Why would we need god? Science answers all of these questions for us. I do think there can be an objective moral reality. If we define moral as being good, and good being that which we live our life by, then I think it’s simple. Minimise suffering. Anything that can suffer, its aim should be to minimise its suffering, and the suffering of others. None of this is simple to achieve, but the idea to me seems simple enough. Everything else seems like unnecessary embellishment. Set dressing of sorts. Becoming an Uber Mench doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. That sounds like a power game. I’m better than you, and this human form, this human realm and rules. Based on what? The idea somehow that this will make you feel good about yourself? Maybe. It hardly seems durable though. When the next Uber mench comes along, can they just knock you down a peg? Knock you off the Uber mench high horse?

Nihilism is often associated with depression and immoral behavior, but I think this is only true for people without direction and motivation. Imagine a man that becomes deeply depressed and unmotivated, fails to keep his job, and becomes homeless. A stranger who sees him on the side of the road might assume that he is homeless because he needs money or other kinds of charity, when in reality he needs a drive to push him to improve and maintain his life. Money given to him will be quickly spent and he will have made no progress to becoming stable. In the same way, nihilism does not remove a person's morality or motivation. Suggesting to someone that their life has meaning and significance does not help a man with a closed heart and a closed mind. The world being devoid of meaning is interpreted as a negative, when in reality, it's entirely neutral. Personally, I believe in optimistic nihilism, a 'glass half-full' way of looking at meaninglessness. Nihilism allows me to disregard arbitrary value systems in our society that would weigh me down. Here's some societal expectations; I am supposed become married and have children, I'm supposed to make x dollars per year, I am supposed to believe in God, I am supposed to live up to the ideal of what a man or woman is, etc. Nihilism allows you to abandon and ignore unhelpful and archaic value systems in favor of your own values. This paves the way to existentialism, the belief that people can determine their own meanings from life without it being handed to them. Nietzsche seemed to have his own concept of what the ubermensch is, but I think an existentialist is a sort of ubermensch. Someone who finds their own meaning from life. I wouldn't say they becomes gods exactly...

Dear Lord, what a dreadful misinterpretation of Nietzsche’s Übermensch.