The Will of God and Godless Willing: Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on How to Live Without Religion to Guide Us
| Thesis title in Czech: | Božská vůle a bezbožné chtění: o postojích Schopenhauera a Nietzsche k problému jak žít bez náboženského vedení |
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| Thesis title in English: | The Will of God and Godless Willing: Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on How to Live Without Religion to Guide Us |
| English key words: | will to live, will to power, Christian morality, human flourishing, nihilism, asceticism, meaning |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2024/2025 |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Philosophy (24-KF) |
| Supervisor: | Mgr. Jakub Marek, Ph.D. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 15.01.2025 |
| Date of assignment: | 15.01.2025 |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 15.01.2025 |
| Date of electronic submission: | 25.06.2025 |
| Date of proceeded defence: | 05.09.2025 |
| Course: | Bachelor Thesis Defense (YBAJSZ01) |
| Opponents: | Shawn Christopher Vigil |
| References |
| Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas. The essence of Christianity. Translated by George Eliot. New York: Prometheus Books, 1989.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm. Beyond Good and Evil, n.d. ———. Daybreak: Thoughts on the Prejudices of Morality. Translated by R.J. Hollingdale. Texts in German Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. ———. The Genealogy of Morality. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. Vintage Books. New York: Random House, 1989. ———. Thus Spake Zarathustra. Translated by Thomas Common. New York: The Modern Library, n.d. Accessed December 26, 2023. Reginster, Bernard. The Affirmation of Life: Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006. Schopenhauer, Arthur. Parerga and Paralipomena. Translated by E.F.J. Payne. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974. ———. The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: Religion, a Dialogue, Etc. Translated by T. Bailey Saunders. Vol. 3. Pennsylvania: Penn State Electronic Classics, 2005. ———. The World as Will and Representation. Translated by E.F.J. Payne. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1966. Stewart, Jon. A History of Nihilism in the Nineteenth Century: Confrontations with Nothingness. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009266734. Wagner, Richard. “Religion and Art.” In Prose Works, translated by W.M. Ashton Ellis, 6:211–85. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1897. Young, Julian. “Nihilism and the Meaning of Life.” In The Oxford Handbook of Continential Philosophy. Oxford University Press, n.d. |
| Preliminary scope of work |
| In a world increasingly detached from traditional religious beliefs, the question of how to live meaningfully in the face of nihilism has become urgent. This thesis will explore Friedrich Nietzsche's will to power and Arthur Schopenhauer's will to live as two possible responses to a world perceived as devoid of divine purpose. Nietzsche advocates for self-overcoming and the active pursuit of resistance, seeing the will to power as a pathway to human flourishing. At the same time, Schopenhauer proposes a renunciation of desires to alleviate suffering, emphasizing the will to live as a source of existential dissatisfaction, and something to be mitigated. Both critique Christian morality's role in shaping human values yet diverge in their assessments of its influence on human flourishing. Through a comparative analysis of these philosophies, this thesis seeks to evaluate which approach offers a more viable framework for addressing the existential concerns of the modern world, ultimately aiming to illuminate pathways to human flourishing and how to harness the will. |