The postmodern proposition is that truth is not objective, present and universal; rather, it is culturally determined and fragmented. French philosopher Jacques Derrida, as an example, suggests language is a process and does not pin eternal truth but rather acts as an unstable medium to convey and interpret. He :

The history of metaphysics, like the history of the West, is the history of these metaphors and metonymies. It’s matrix — If you will pardon me for demonstrating so little and for being elliptical in order to come more quickly to my principle theme — is the determination of Being as presence in all sense of this word.

Essentially, language is the tool we use to understand reality.

Truth in flux

If truth dissolves in language, how can meaning exist? With truth in flux, does it actually exist at all? The postmodern vision submerges into the post-truth reality where truth does not exist. Even interpretation is futile because it is not concrete. In the political realm, this leads us to binaries where each ideology bears its own facts. There are no lies; there are simply different angles at which to view the fact. If truth is not a present reality, can facts exist? Why is reality so hard to pin? 

Can truth and reality be understood as a kind of fluid dynamics? Is this why we fear it? It is an object in continuous revelation to us, but we suffer the human limitation of wanting something eternally present. Each moment is sustained by the previous and subsequent reality factors into this continuum. Time distinguishes our angle from another’s. Dialogue with someone of differing character can be tricky because it invites cognitive dissonance. This brings us to the political dimension of illusion.

If we struggle to grasp reality, we also have trouble discussing it. There must be a shared body of facts for an understanding to emerge from dialogue. Is such a corpus itself truth or is it merely representational? Does it exist outside our perception of it? Why would it not, if we must experience it? Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand this piece of wisdom: “He is free to evade reality, he is free to unfocus his mind and stumble blindly down any road he pleases, but not free to avoid the abyss he refuses to see.”

Thoughts from the past

One strange contradiction of human nature is that we desire the utmost freedom for ourselves, our desires and expressions, but we seemingly want to limit such things for others. English philosopher Thomas Hobbes that without government, society would be a state of war; yet power is indeed an “aphrodisiac” in the words of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and can often corrupt absolutely. German philosopher Karl Marx also notes the contradictions of our social nature, which he blames on the capitalist mode of production that contrasts with our inherent cooperative nature.

These contradictions of self and other, safety and freedom, capital and labor, provide human nature with continual flux. Greek philosopher states, “Everything changes and nothing stands still.” Why do we construct meaning in the first place if nothing stable exists? 

Psychologist Viktor Frankl suggests meaning is essential to surviving human existence. In the internet age, when information is broadly available and richly diverse, our minds may be confused by the flow of perspectives and ideas. 

Somehow, we are still led by the idea that reality can be pinned objectively and that some interpretation is “truth.” Reality seems bifurcated, too complex and dynamic to suggest what this “truth” is. Can freedom even exist for the mind if external reality does not validate multiple points of view? Our views of reality are more rooted in our individual nature and emotional disposition than in the apprehension of facts. asserts that “ideology is about 40% heritable.” 

Perhaps meaning is not found through grasping, but through release. It seems reality is tricky to pin down because it is constantly shifting, saturated with perplexity and bifurcated. The path to meaning is puzzling. Maybe the path out of this conundrum is Wu Wei or zazen instead of critical analysis.

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The inability to adapt to reality is a psychological ailment we all face to some degree. One cannot tolerate too much reality and constructs beliefs and creations to escape chaos. It is a primary mental resource for mapping meaning in order to live fully. 

Writers and the struggle with reality

It is sometimes said that writers secure their sanity through their art. Otherwise, they would become unstable. Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, once that groundbreaking Irish author James Joyce and his daughter, the dancer Lucia, were “two people going to the bottom of a river, one falling and the other diving.” He described Joyce’s writing as bordering on schizophrenia, a disorder of fragmented self and thought. 

However, it must be noted that authorship is not a symptom of a merely diagnosable ailment. Rather, it is the diagnosis of ailment itself. Authors tend to struggle more with reality as sensitive beings facing it directly. 

German author Thomas Mann in Magic Mountain used this heuristic to describe the ultranationalistic fervor of prewar Europe. In his essay “Thoughts in Wartime,” Mann , “Deep in our hearts we felt that the world, our world, could no longer go on as it had. We were familiar with this world of peace and frivolous manners … A ghastly world that will no longer exist — or will not exist once the storm has passed! Wasn’t it swarming with vermin of the spirit like maggots? Didn’t it seethe and stink of civilization’s decay?” 

This suggests a pensive mind reflecting on social ills more than a sick person who requires medication. Social dilemmas are the author’s premier fascination. Such a person is like a seismograph measuring the ground’s motion before an earthquake to determine its impact.

The search for meaning

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche offered such a diagnosis in The Antichrist. In “Diagnosing the Human Condition,” School of the Art Institute of Chicago undergraduate student Sean Leftwich , “There is a certain concealment of the true meaning of the traditionally positive Christian terms that Nietzsche attacks here, promising life where there may be emptiness, and therefore promoting a hostility towards life, perhaps even a rejection of it.” Does this offer the redemptive value it purports? In a broad discussion of Christianity’s nihilism, Nietzsche constructed a vision of the human condition that finds meaning in its bare existence.  

Jung as stating, “The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate.” The dialectic between the conscious and the unconscious illumines the principle of individuation. In Jung’s dynamic psychology, the unconscious holds archetypes that resonate with ancient meaning which become conscious through dreams and during psychotic states. 

Jung also noted that mythical revelations are part of the psychological process of collective humanity. Can we take the author’s works as part of the mythical process of creating universal meaning within this context? Jung himself , “The poet’s conviction that he is creating in absolute freedom would then be an illusion: he fancies he is swimming, but in reality an unseen current sweeps him along.” So yes, we can. Such revelations from the author unite humankind and unveil the seriousness of the world stage. 

The author as the seeker of truth

By unveiling the unconscious psychology that causes suffering, the author delineates collective healing. Analogous to yin and yang, the dialectical process of the quest for freedom is one of synthesis in which dark contains light and light, dark. Akin to German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel’s view that self-consciousness requires others to realize itself, the binary of dark/light is universal self-recognition. This distillation of truth requires rejuvenation. Like the scapegoat of Christianity, the author bleeds to unveil the inner recesses of suffering within the human soul. This act of healing within the author is the secret of universal expression. 

The tensions between opposites create rivalries and binaries that seem irreconcilable. Such are right and left on the political spectrum or good and evil in theological terms. The interconnected nature of these oppositions suggests the need for synthesis. Great leaders and thinkers reconcile the tensions of their era creatively and proactively.

The psychotic sensibility is fragmented and lost within fantasy. The author may recognize their delusions and moral shortcomings, but their voice is essential to the development of humankind. Struggle is universal and demanding. The author offers divine wisdom for the collective illumination of humanity. By radicalizing the tensions or getting at their root, the author searches deeply and often fumbles around in the dark until something is uncovered.

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By comparing individuals and societies to towering trees, Nietzsche that these entities require the “bad weather and storms” of adversity to cultivate true strength and reach their full potential. Moreover, he contends that experiences that might seem to hinder progress – hatred, jealousy, and even suffering – can ultimately foster the conditions for exceptional growth, including the growth of virtue itself.

This perspective, while seemingly paradoxical and even unsettling, underscores Nietzsche’s emphasis on the transformative power of struggle. Additionally, he suggests that genuine growth, particularly for those seeking truth and striving for greatness, necessitates confronting and overcoming hardship, even if it means experiencing pain and self-doubt.

The concept of grief is a complex and multifaceted one, inspiring profound philosophical reflections. As Erich Fromm astutely observed, “To spare oneself from grief at all costs can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness.” This paradox highlights the intricate relationship between grief, happiness, and human existence. The seven stages of grief involving shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, and testing, underscore the turbulent emotional landscape that accompanies loss. 

Furthermore, grief can lead to a disintegration of selfhood, fostering feelings of distrust, fear, and doubt, as the individual struggles to reconcile their sense of identity with the new reality. As Ralph Waldo Emerson eloquently put it, “Sorrow makes us all children again-destroys all differences of intellect. The wisest know nothing.” To a philosophical mind, this discussion of grief may evoke existential questions about the human condition, the nature of suffering, and the search for meaning in the face of loss and uncertainty.

Beyond nihilism 

Nietzsche’s philosophy grapples with the challenge of overcoming nihilism, a phenomenon that arises from the absence of religious faith and objective values. In the void left by the decline of traditional belief systems, meaning is lost, and individuals and cultures struggle to make sense of their world. The pursuit of meaning is a fundamental human impulse, driving growth and stability. 

However, as the world becomes increasingly interconnected, diverse values and perspectives and collide, reigniting the problem of nihilism. In this complex landscape, the question of how to evaluate one’s own truth claims against those of others becomes pressing.   

Nietzsche’s philosophy addresses this issue, posing a provocative question: what is the nature of value in a world where objective truth is elusive? The postmodernist response to this dilemma suggests that truth is fragmented across ideologies, and that higher truths can be discovered through dialogue and engagement with diverse perspectives.

In contrast, Nietzsche’s solution is both simpler and more controversial. He proposes the concept of the “overman,” a figure who embodies the ascent of new values and transcends conventional moral and cultural norms. The overman is a theoretical construct that contains creative and destructive potential. Nietzsche’s master and slave moralities reflect the reality that some people are like lodestones and others are drawn magnetically to them. Followers persuade through mimesis while leaders create the foundations.

Challenging traditional morality

The great English philosopher Herbert Spencer wrote, “You must admit that the genesis of a great man depends on the long series of complex influences which has produced the race in which he appears, and the social state into which that race has slowly grown… Before he can remake his society, his society must make him.” says of the overman, “All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man?” 

Furthermore, his writings reveal a with his father’s Lutheran values, particularly in his concept of the “death of God.” Martin Luther’s ideology is evident in Nietzsche’s work, as seen in Luther’s statement: “We Christians should know that if God is not in the scale to give it weight, we sink to the ground… if God’s death and a dead God lie in the balance, his side goes down and ours goes up.” Nietzsche reinterprets this idea, using it to challenge traditional morality and religion.

Building on the idea that Nietzsche’s concept of the “ was influenced by Lutheran theology, it is clear that his philosophy took a dramatic turn in response to the perceived moral vacuum left by the decline of religious values. For instance, as Luther noted, “For God in his own nature cannot die; but now that God and man are united in one person, it is called God’s death when the man dies who is one substance or one person with God.” 

Nietzsche, however, viewed the death of God as the advent of nihilism – the world, sans religious values, was doomed to a moral vacuum where all things are permitted. In response to this crisis, Nietzsche proposed the concept of the overman, a figurative being who creates values against the moral vacuum of nihilism, thereby offering a new perspective on morality and human existence. 

The agony of truth

Does a moral vacuum necessitate grief? In what ways does this moral vacuity influence the individual? These critical questions arise in an era when information is everywhere in abundance due to the internet.

Against this backdrop, nihilism’s stranglehold is bound to instill grief, worry, and fear in the individual who seeks truth, challenges predominant systems, and does not take truth as granted by a democratic majority. Moreover, truth is not popular as the words of Einstein remind us, “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.” In this vein, universal objective truth does not exist.

The raises fundamental questions about the nature of truth. Cultures create myths that can be both revelatory and self-fulfilling, but individuals may struggle to accept them as universally true when faced with conflicting values. The postmodernists and Nietzsche’s concept of the overman offer different perspectives on this issue. Ultimately, the search for truth is a complex and potentially grief-provoking process that requires letting go of falsehoods, recognizing limitations, and trusting instincts, while also maintaining a healthy dose of self-distrust.

Over and above, suffering is inevitably part of the paradigm. As Guy Debord wrote in The more he identifies with the dominant images of need, the less he understands his own life and his own desires. Essentially, the spectacle’s estrangement from the acting subject is expressed by the fact that the individual’s gestures are no longer his own; they are the gestures of someone else who represents them to him.” The grief in searching for truth lies in the thirst for it. For one to uncover the depths of human meaning, one must engage in personal pursuit with reality. While truth is subjective, the ability to act and to live accordingly is not.

Concludingly, one must systematically make and re-make oneself. Like fallible clay that can be shaped into any solid form, the human mind may also be fitted into any shape. It requires strength to resist dominant paradigms, and the truth seeker cannot be completely free from culture. The pursuit of self-actualization can be a grief-provoking process, as it requires negotiating with one’s objective world and challenging common assumptions. As Emerson noted, “To be great is to be misunderstood,” highlighting the potential costs of embracing individuality and rejecting dominant norms. Therefore, self-reliance is the mea culpa of freedom.

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The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect 51łÔąĎ’s editorial policy.

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