Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche both regarded the creeping nihilism and meaninglessness of their time as a fundamental threat to humanity. While both were critical of modernity and rationalism, their solutions were radically opposed. Dostoyevsky looked beyond the human for an answer and found in love and compassion, 'the chief law of human existence'. While Nietzsche declared God dead and found meaning in human nature and the assertion of human creativity.
Is Dostoyevsky, as some have argued, a denial of all that is human and an acceptance of authority and oppression, or is it Nietzsche who is most dangerous in his endorsement of human desire and the will to power? Can meaning only be found outside of ourselves, in the love of others and in God's love for us? Or should we follow Nietzsche and see human will and desire as the means to create meaning?
Radical author Janne Teller, Nietzchian philosopher Kathleen Higgins and Dostoevsky translator Oliver Ready debate where to find meaning. Niki Seth-Smith hosts.