Nihilism and the Meaning of Life: A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia

Jul 6, 2026

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A collection of scholarly papers and replies centered on nihilism and the meaning of life through a philosophical dialogue with James Tartaglia. Edited by Masahiro Morioka and published in the Journal of Philosophy of Life, the volume frames Tartaglia’s positions and engages multiple contributors who respond to his arguments. The contents range from issues such as transcendent reality, consciousness, purposelessness, and personal resonance to debates over freedom, transcendence, finitude, and mediation, culminating in author replies and concluding materials.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages350

Reading Time8 h 59 min

Preface

Nihilism and the Meaning of Life

Transcendent Reality and the Consciousness Problem

Is Consciousness Transcendent?

Nothing but Nihilism?

Living in the Frame

In Search of Perspective

How Human Life Could be Unintended but Meaningful

Transcendence

Transcendence and Mediation

Information about the Authors

NIHILISM AND THE MEANING OF LIFE A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia Edited by Masahiro Morioka Journal of Philosophy of Life Nihilism and the Meaning of Life A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia Edited by Masahiro Morioka Journal of Philosophy of Life Nihilism and the Meaning of Life: A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia Edited by Masahiro Morioka July 31, 2017 © Journal of Philosophy of Life 2017 Published by Journal of Philosophy of Life [www.philosophyoflife.org](www.philosophyoflife.org) School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, 2‐579‐15 Mikajima, Tokorozawa‐shi, Saitama, 3591192 Japan Cover design by Masahiro Morioka ISBN 978‐4‐9908668‐2‐2 Nihilism and the Meaning of Life A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia Contents Preface Masahiro Morioka Nihilism and the Meaning of Life James Tartaglia Transcendent Reality and the Consciousness Problem Adam Balmer Reply to Adam Balmer James Tartaglia Is Consciousness Transcendent?: Comments on James Tartaglia’s Philosophy in a Meaningless Life: A System of Nihilism, Consciousness and Reality Philip Goff Reply to Philip Goff James Tartaglia Nothing but Nihilism?: The Spirit of Purposelessness in James Tartaglia’s Philosophy in a Meaningless Life Ronald A. Kuipers Reply to Ronald A. Kuipers James Tartaglia The Deep Personal Resonance of Nihilism Tracy Llanera i ii‐xxvi 1‐15 16‐20 21‐32 33‐49 50‐69 70‐80 81‐91 Reply to Tracy Llanera James Tartaglia Living in the Frame: Meaning on Loan from Nihilism Alan Malachowski Reply to Alan Malachowski James Tartaglia In Search of Perspective: Notes on Freedom, Transcendence, and Finitude in Tartaglia’s Philosophy in a Meaningless Life Bjørn Torgrim Ramberg Reply to Bjørn Ramberg James Tartaglia How Human Life Could be Unintended but Meaningful: A Reply to Tartaglia Brooke Alan Trisel Reply to Brooke Alan Trisel James Tartaglia Transcendence J. J. Valberg Reply to J. J. Valberg James Tartaglia ‘Life is Meaningless.’Compared to What? Damian Veal Reply to Damian Veal James Tartaglia 92‐97 98‐119 120‐135 136‐151 152‐159 160‐179 180‐186 187‐194 195‐207 208‐260 261‐278 Transcendence and Mediation: From Tartaglia to the Free‐Will Debate Sho Yamaguchi Reply to Sho Yamaguchi James Tartaglia Information about the Authors 279‐304 305‐315 Preface This book is a collection of all the papers and essays published in the Special Issue “Nihilism and the Meaning of Life: A Philosophical Dialogue with James Tartaglia,” Journal of Philosophy of Life, Vol.7, No.1, 2017, pp.1-315 . Two years ago, in 2015, we published the book Reconsidering Meaning in Life: A Philosophical Dialogue with Thaddeus Metz, and after the publication, one of the contributors to the above book, James Tartaglia, published his own intriguing philosophical book on the meaning of life and its connection with nihilism, entitled Philosophy in a Meaningless Life: A System of Nihilism, Consciousness and Reality (Bloomsbury 2016) . I thought it would be a good idea to have a symposium on his book in the Journal of Philosophy of Life. I invited ten philosophers who have a strong interest in this topic, and edited a special volume dedicated to Tartaglia’s book. After receiving their papers, I asked James to write a reply to each of them, and in July this year we published a special issue in the Journal. You can read all of them, along with the replies by Tartaglia, in this single book. Nihilism is an important topic in the field of philosophy of life. Currently, anti-natalism is hotly debated in the context of the meaning of/in life in analytic philosophy. The idea of anti-natalism goes back to ancient Greek literature and philosophy in Europe, and ancient Indian philosophy and religions in Asia. I believe that tackling the theme of nihilism will contribute a lot to contemporary philosophical discussions about the meaning

FAQs

What is the purpose of this book?

It collects papers from a special issue symposium focused on nihilism and the meaning of life in dialogue with James Tartaglia’s work, along with Tartaglia’s replies to each contributor.

Who edited the volume and what journal published it?

Masahiro Morioka edited the volume, published in the Journal of Philosophy of Life (July 31, 2017).

What major themes are addressed in the chapter lineup?

The volume addresses transcendent reality and consciousness, purposelessness and nihilism’s personal resonance, and issues of freedom, transcendence, finitude, and mediation, including comparison-like discussions such as “Life is Meaningless. Compared to What?”

Jul 6, 2026

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