A lack of meaning?

Reactive nihilism and processual materiality

Authors

• Anne Sauka University of Latvia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3743-0413

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30664/ar.91788

Keywords:

body, materiality, reactive nihilism, processuality, dualism, becoming, solidarity

Abstract

This article explores the ‘lack of meaning’ in contemporary society as a consequence of Western dualist thought paradigms and ontologies, via Gilles Deleuze’s concept of ‘reactive nihilism’ following the colloquial murder of God. The article then explores processual and new materialist approaches in the understanding of the lived and carnal self, arguing for immanent and senseful materiality as an ethical platform for religious, environmental, and societal solidarity for tomorrow. For the theoretical justification of the processual approach in understanding the enfleshed self, the article employs John Dupré’s processual approach in the philosophy of biology, as well as Astrida Neimani’s critical posthumanism, and contextualizes these considerations with Erich Fromm’s ethical distinction of being and having.