http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/nihilism Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:30:26 -0400 Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:30:26 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1641/the-psyscholinguistic-semiotics-and-metanormative-ethics-of-suicide-and-death-in-shakespeares-king-lear By Conner R. Hayes - The fascination with death and the sensationalizing of suicide are prevalent metaphysical themes which traverse all Shakespearean tragedy. These brooding themes, despite their ubiquitous portrayal, take on an idiosyncratic ethical meaning in King Lear. Though naturally nihilistic and bleak, these sentiments serve as more than mere evidence of the existential longing plaguing the psyches of many of Shakespeare’s characters. The yearning to die, and moreover, one’s ability to die, explicates the very metaethical framework and normative ethical epistemology of the play. The characters... Tue, 02 May 2017 12:30 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1641/the-psyscholinguistic-semiotics-and-metanormative-ethics-of-suicide-and-death-in-shakespeares-king-lear http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1609/the-rebel-hero-albert-camus-and-the-search-for-meaning-amidst-the-absurd By Meghan E. Von Hassel - Man in his search for meaning—everyman— is Albert Camus’ rebel. In The Rebel man must accept and seek to encounter the universe as it presents itself in absurdity. He encounters the universe out of a strange love and a need for something in which he can place his hope: “a moment comes when the creation ceases to be taken tragically; it is merely taken seriously. Then man is concerned with hope.”[1] Rebellion in the face of absurdity finds hope in the beauty of solidarity which is rooted in the dignity of man, namely, that there is value in human life. In the darkness... Tue, 04 Apr 2017 02:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1609/the-rebel-hero-albert-camus-and-the-search-for-meaning-amidst-the-absurd