Dear John
Thanks for this expanded explanation. It gives me a fuller sense of how you are using nihilism.
That said, though, I might still ask then, what modern filmmaker would not count as a nihilist? Since I see Antonioni as a transcendental ethicist, I would argue that he is not a nihilist, as I do see Felini, for example, as Felini seems to be arguing that this world is all we have and so we had better learn to live with it. I will reconsider this in the light of what you say regarding Kant, though, certainly.
In regard to your last statement, though, I still have a problem with this as it pertains especially to Antonioni. (Still, I do not see that this pertains to Ant, actually.) You write, "The nihilist is someone who aspires toward an ideal, but always fails in achieving that ideal. So, I don't think it is incorrect to characterize those who aim at a mark and miss it as non-nihilists. In fact, I would say that this is one of the necessary conditions for nihilism."
I can see well how you are characterizing a nihilist here, but still, I do not think this describes Antonioni, whose argument was modern society lost touch with something and his films are paths to getting back in touch with that something. I don't see that Antonioni ever saw himself as someone who aspired toward an ideal and missed the mark. Certainly in his films. What I do see is that he thinks that modernism missed the mark. His films are a corrective to that modernist failing. This is why I still don't see Ant as a nihilist.
Does this make sense and is it different from what you are saying?
best,
Brian
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Brian Bergen-Aurand
Assistant Professor English and Film
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