Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
Le nihilism trouve alors son compte.
English translation:
This is the triumph of nihilism
Added to glossary by
Gabrielle Lyons
Feb 1, 2005 09:38
19 yrs ago
1 viewer *
French term
Le nihilism trouve alors son compte.
French to English
Other
Journalism
Philosophical
(article from Le Nouvel Observateur on the tsunami)
Context:
Dans les attentats-suicides, a la volonte justiciere, s'ajoute la recherche du salut par le sacrifice. xxx Le nihilisme y trouve alors son compte.xxx'
I am not sure enough of the philosophical definition of nihilism. I thought that nihilism did not need any aim or justification. Perhaps that is what is being said here, but I'm not sure. Can you suggest an accurate translation that makes philosophical sense?
Context:
Dans les attentats-suicides, a la volonte justiciere, s'ajoute la recherche du salut par le sacrifice. xxx Le nihilisme y trouve alors son compte.xxx'
I am not sure enough of the philosophical definition of nihilism. I thought that nihilism did not need any aim or justification. Perhaps that is what is being said here, but I'm not sure. Can you suggest an accurate translation that makes philosophical sense?
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 | This is the triumph of nihilism |
Gabrielle Lyons
|
| 5 +1 | nihilism rules, OK |
Bourth (X)
|
Proposed translations
22 mins
Gabrielle Lyons
Native in English
The content matters.
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Selected
This is the triumph of nihilism
can't improve on Bourth's explanation
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+1
12 mins
nihilism rules, OK
The thing with nihilism is not so much that it has no justification etc. as that one is proposing nothing in exchange. Thus one beheads the monarch. Period. One does not set up a revolutionary council of leaders in his place.
As far as our suicidal protagonists are concerned, their own endeavours might be regarded as nihilistic, since they themselves are not suggesting a substitute for the system they intend to destroy. For their puppeteers, however, it is a different matter ...
I agree with you that the meaning is not particularly clear (maybe in the whole article ...?), but from the viewpoint of the bombers themselves not actually proposing change, other than by elimination of what exists, their actions might be described as nihilistic.
What comes more out of an English language definition (Webster's) than out of a French definition (Lexis) is the use of terrorism: Nihilism (with a capital N) is the Russian movement that "advocated revolutionary reform in nihilistic (small n) manner and attempted to carry it out through the use of TERRORISM AND ASSASSINATION ... loosely, any violent revolutionary movement involving the use of terrorism".
As far as our suicidal protagonists are concerned, their own endeavours might be regarded as nihilistic, since they themselves are not suggesting a substitute for the system they intend to destroy. For their puppeteers, however, it is a different matter ...
I agree with you that the meaning is not particularly clear (maybe in the whole article ...?), but from the viewpoint of the bombers themselves not actually proposing change, other than by elimination of what exists, their actions might be described as nihilistic.
What comes more out of an English language definition (Webster's) than out of a French definition (Lexis) is the use of terrorism: Nihilism (with a capital N) is the Russian movement that "advocated revolutionary reform in nihilistic (small n) manner and attempted to carry it out through the use of TERRORISM AND ASSASSINATION ... loosely, any violent revolutionary movement involving the use of terrorism".
Discussion