ABSTRACT
The preface introduces the central topic of this monograph: namely, that a crisis of meaning—long simmering under the surface—profoundly shaped the political, religious and psychological thought of the twentieth century in the realm of high culture. Nietzsche remains the central diagnostician for illuminating this obscure region of human activity. His, it is argued, are the most far-reaching, influential and radical views in the fields of modern psychology, philosophy and politics. His key motifs—the “death of God” and the “last man”—are introduced here; it is argued that they set the stage for much of the art, literature and political thought of the next hundred years. Conrad gave further literary flesh to these images in his depiction of Kurtz. Heart of Darkness is taken as the novel in which the crisis of European Enlightenment values is made manifest.
