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Essays
Peter Wessel Zapffe (1899–1990) is widely regarded as “Norway’s earliest eco-philosopher.” He was the first Norwegian thinker to develop a philosophical critique of man’s relationship with the environment. Zapffe was not only a philosopher, but also a writer, literary critic, humorist, environmentalist and alpine climber. He grew up in a rather bourgeois environment in Tromsø in northern Norway. His father, Fritz Zapffe, was known for being a close friend of polar explorer Roald Amundsen; he helped the latter with rations and other kinds of materials for his expeditions up to the polar areas. Peter Wessel Zapffe’s childhood was characterized by tough discipline. From early on this awoke in him a strong aversion against any type of authority.
Zapffe published several collections of essays, in addition to numerous articles in various journals and newspapers. At the age of 87, he published his last book, Hvordan jeg ble så flink (“How I became so clever”). In the following year, 1987, he received Norway’s Fritt Ord (“Freedom of Expression”) award. The city of Tromsø honored him by naming a mountain after him. Zapffe died on the 12th of October, 1990.
Zapffe published several collections of essays, in addition to numerous articles in various journals and newspapers. At the age of 87, he published his last book, Hvordan jeg ble så flink (“How I became so clever”). In the following year, 1987, he received Norway’s Fritt Ord (“Freedom of Expression”) award. The city of Tromsø honored him by naming a mountain after him. Zapffe died on the 12th of October, 1990.
285 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
About the author
Peter Wessel Zapffe
26 books347 followersPeter Wessel Zapffe [pronounced ZAP-fe] was a Norwegian philosopher, author and mountaineer. He was well known for his somewhat pessimistic view of human existence and his philosophy is widely considered to be pessimistic, much like the earlier work of Arthur Schopenhauer, by whom he was inspired. His thoughts regarding the error of human existence are presented in the essay, The Last Messiah (original: Den sidste Messias, 1933). This essay is a shorter version of his best-known work, the philosophical treatise, On the tragic (original: Om det tragiske 1941). He called his brand of thought, biosophy, which he defined as "thinking on life".
(Source: wikipedia)
(Source: wikipedia)
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September 28, 2015So, what to say about life?
In 1933, Peter Wessel Zapffe shook the philosophical circles up in his native country when he published this essay, Den sidste messias. In this essay he gives his account of the nature of the human life and how we typically deal with it, and he outlines the main themes that he would later develop more thoroughly in his phd thesis Om det tragiske (which I believe hasn't been translated to English, somewhat surprisingly).
Safe to say, Zapffe's account of humanity is a bleak one. The main tenet that runs through much of his philosophy is this belief: while most all other animals have developed biological tools that stand in proportion to their essential tasks in life, it is not so with modern man. We been vastly over-endowed with an advanced consciousness that allows us to reflect upon our selves, our transient nature, and pose questions about grander meaning in the universe. In fact, paradoxically, nature has given us a consciousness that writes checks (in form of metaphysical questions) that nature can't cash (through answers to these questions).
This is what Zapffe views as the tragic element of human existence—the discrepancy between our potential and what nature allows for us.
Zapffe illustrates this point by asking us to picture a Paleolithic hunter. While hunting for prey, he suddenly becomes aware of his place in the universe, and ponders about the shared fate of all living creatures. His loss of practical focus ends fatally. Our consciousness has evolved so far that Zapffe imagines that it can become calamitous to our survival. Zapffe points out that this isn't the first time that a species suffers from over-evolution of one's ability. He references the giant Irish Elk, who through the games of evolution developed antlers of such size that it contributed to their own extinction. He powerfully suggests: in depressive states, the mind may be seen in the image of such an antler, in all its fantastic splendour pinning its bearer to the ground.
So why, then, do we go on living seemingly undisrupted, generation upon generation?
Zapffe claims it is mostly due to conscious and unconscious efforts to limit our own consciousness and keep the darkest impulses hidden away. In this sense, he echoes much of the Freudian thinking of his time. We use defense mechanisms such as isolation, which is simply to ignore and suppress such thoughts.
We may use anchoring, which is to invent our own arbitrary goals and overarching meaning (typically God, Church, State, or various idealistic ideas).
We also often use distraction (probably more relevant than ever in these ever more accelerating technological times—just give the children some iPads, and they won't get the time to face themselves).
The last tactic he describes is the use of sublimation , which is a more conscious strategy which attempts to turn the dark and tragic realizations into art and other productive activities.
In his forecast of our species future, he proposes that we will eventually face a collective breakdown as we get more and more time to reflect upon such existential matters, and that new methods of anchoring at one point won't convince us anymore as we continue to overthrow our old ones (demise of God etc). He famously consummates his text with the short parable of the "Last Messiah" who will come and cry out: Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye
What to say about this philosophy? Well, it probably comes as a surprise to no one to hear that Zapffe was a deeply unhappy and troubled man for large parts of his life. He had a dreadful childhood, and on several occasion he openly spoke about being abused as a child. It's hard not to think that this provides a relevant backdrop for the terribly grim philosophy he would develop. That said, perhaps he would argue that this corroborates his point: our staunch tendency to ascribe deeply pessimistic philosophies merely as results of horrible childhoods and troubled psyches could be yet another sign about our wish to deny and hide these impulses away, an attempt to disarm them in a way.
In the end, while Zapffe's philosophy is certainly thought-provoking and remarkable in that it dares to voice the questions that are disturbingly taboo to this day, it's still hard to join completely in his grim outlook. A universe without us would in a way be wasted. Humans are seemingly a once-in-history occurrence in the sense that we are the only ones who can truly and fully perceive the richness of the universe (albeit still within certain limits of our own). If what he deems defense-mechanisms are in fact things that can be perceived as making life subjectively meaningful for others, is that really so bad? I am somewhat sympathetic to the viewpoint of Camus, who grappled with many of these themes and questions during the same period and came to a slightly different conclusion: yes, the universe is without any inherent meaning, and it isn't capable of answering some of our most pressing questions. But perhaps the best we can do is to rebel, scoff at the fates and—like Sisyphus—keep rolling that stone.
(Existential comics)
In 1933, Peter Wessel Zapffe shook the philosophical circles up in his native country when he published this essay, Den sidste messias. In this essay he gives his account of the nature of the human life and how we typically deal with it, and he outlines the main themes that he would later develop more thoroughly in his phd thesis Om det tragiske (which I believe hasn't been translated to English, somewhat surprisingly).
Safe to say, Zapffe's account of humanity is a bleak one. The main tenet that runs through much of his philosophy is this belief: while most all other animals have developed biological tools that stand in proportion to their essential tasks in life, it is not so with modern man. We been vastly over-endowed with an advanced consciousness that allows us to reflect upon our selves, our transient nature, and pose questions about grander meaning in the universe. In fact, paradoxically, nature has given us a consciousness that writes checks (in form of metaphysical questions) that nature can't cash (through answers to these questions).
Life had overshot its target, blowing itself apart. A species had been armed too heavily – by spirit made almighty without, but equally a menace to its own well-being.
This is what Zapffe views as the tragic element of human existence—the discrepancy between our potential and what nature allows for us.
Zapffe illustrates this point by asking us to picture a Paleolithic hunter. While hunting for prey, he suddenly becomes aware of his place in the universe, and ponders about the shared fate of all living creatures. His loss of practical focus ends fatally. Our consciousness has evolved so far that Zapffe imagines that it can become calamitous to our survival. Zapffe points out that this isn't the first time that a species suffers from over-evolution of one's ability. He references the giant Irish Elk, who through the games of evolution developed antlers of such size that it contributed to their own extinction. He powerfully suggests: in depressive states, the mind may be seen in the image of such an antler, in all its fantastic splendour pinning its bearer to the ground.
So why, then, do we go on living seemingly undisrupted, generation upon generation?
Zapffe claims it is mostly due to conscious and unconscious efforts to limit our own consciousness and keep the darkest impulses hidden away. In this sense, he echoes much of the Freudian thinking of his time. We use defense mechanisms such as isolation, which is simply to ignore and suppress such thoughts.
We may use anchoring, which is to invent our own arbitrary goals and overarching meaning (typically God, Church, State, or various idealistic ideas).
We also often use distraction (probably more relevant than ever in these ever more accelerating technological times—just give the children some iPads, and they won't get the time to face themselves).
The last tactic he describes is the use of sublimation , which is a more conscious strategy which attempts to turn the dark and tragic realizations into art and other productive activities.
In his forecast of our species future, he proposes that we will eventually face a collective breakdown as we get more and more time to reflect upon such existential matters, and that new methods of anchoring at one point won't convince us anymore as we continue to overthrow our old ones (demise of God etc). He famously consummates his text with the short parable of the "Last Messiah" who will come and cry out: Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye
What to say about this philosophy? Well, it probably comes as a surprise to no one to hear that Zapffe was a deeply unhappy and troubled man for large parts of his life. He had a dreadful childhood, and on several occasion he openly spoke about being abused as a child. It's hard not to think that this provides a relevant backdrop for the terribly grim philosophy he would develop. That said, perhaps he would argue that this corroborates his point: our staunch tendency to ascribe deeply pessimistic philosophies merely as results of horrible childhoods and troubled psyches could be yet another sign about our wish to deny and hide these impulses away, an attempt to disarm them in a way.
In the end, while Zapffe's philosophy is certainly thought-provoking and remarkable in that it dares to voice the questions that are disturbingly taboo to this day, it's still hard to join completely in his grim outlook. A universe without us would in a way be wasted. Humans are seemingly a once-in-history occurrence in the sense that we are the only ones who can truly and fully perceive the richness of the universe (albeit still within certain limits of our own). If what he deems defense-mechanisms are in fact things that can be perceived as making life subjectively meaningful for others, is that really so bad? I am somewhat sympathetic to the viewpoint of Camus, who grappled with many of these themes and questions during the same period and came to a slightly different conclusion: yes, the universe is without any inherent meaning, and it isn't capable of answering some of our most pressing questions. But perhaps the best we can do is to rebel, scoff at the fates and—like Sisyphus—keep rolling that stone.
(Existential comics)
June 11, 2015
Most people learn to save themselves by artificially limiting the content of consciousness.
March 22, 2015
This was a most excellent read. There wasn't much insight I could glean from it due to having read Ligotti's analysis of it beforehand. However, I must say, his ideas were way ahead of his time, and it's easy to understand why he was and will be so ignored by mainstream philosophy.
January 17, 2025
Blanda drops. Essays om nihilisme, fjell, polfaring, religionskritikk, shakespeare, og måke-egg, blant anna.
Veldig interessant nihilistisk utgangspunkt og argument: Gjennom evolusjonen har mennesket utvikla en bevissthet, som skille oss fra dyran og som e rota til all vesentlig menneskelig lidelse. Det gjør livet umoralsk(?)
Gjennom essaysamlinga titte den her biosofiske nihilismen (som Zapffe kalle den selv) - og negativiteten - frem støtt og stadig. Like ofte e den helt fraværende, særlig når fjell og polfaring tas opp. Det fraværet av nihilisme i møte med opplevelsa i naturen, e kanskje det mest interessante.
En del kjedelige essays. Burde velg og vrak litt her.
Veldig interessant nihilistisk utgangspunkt og argument: Gjennom evolusjonen har mennesket utvikla en bevissthet, som skille oss fra dyran og som e rota til all vesentlig menneskelig lidelse. Det gjør livet umoralsk(?)
Gjennom essaysamlinga titte den her biosofiske nihilismen (som Zapffe kalle den selv) - og negativiteten - frem støtt og stadig. Like ofte e den helt fraværende, særlig når fjell og polfaring tas opp. Det fraværet av nihilisme i møte med opplevelsa i naturen, e kanskje det mest interessante.
En del kjedelige essays. Burde velg og vrak litt her.
February 15, 2016
Antinatalist and pessimistic; this is one of my favorite essays of all time. Zapffe uses poetic aphorism to examine the troubling paradox of human consciousness. Definitely worth looking for if one can handle it’s deeply anti-humanist message.
September 11, 2013
a short essay on the author's brand of pessimism.
for him, the human being is doomed to alienation, finitude, despair, anxiety from the first moment the human sees itself (really sees, feels, understands itself - as naked, in a body, separated, a stranger to matter and to animals, a stranger to his body and so on).
and there are several strategies everyone employs in order to block this insight: isolation (a kind of freudian repression), anchoring (finding an ideal or something important to cling on - religion, politics, family), distraction and sublimation.
he examines each of this strategies - and finishes with a myth about the "last messiah" who would come and give these dis-angelion - show the world for what it is, give the message "Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye", and be killed by the angered mob :)
for him, the human being is doomed to alienation, finitude, despair, anxiety from the first moment the human sees itself (really sees, feels, understands itself - as naked, in a body, separated, a stranger to matter and to animals, a stranger to his body and so on).
and there are several strategies everyone employs in order to block this insight: isolation (a kind of freudian repression), anchoring (finding an ideal or something important to cling on - religion, politics, family), distraction and sublimation.
he examines each of this strategies - and finishes with a myth about the "last messiah" who would come and give these dis-angelion - show the world for what it is, give the message "Know yourselves – be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye", and be killed by the angered mob :)
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February 13, 2018Know yourselves- be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye.
March 26, 2024
“Know yourselves—be infertile, and let the earth be silent after ye.” - Zapffe
What a piece of work this guy was. He was basically a loner who loved taking pictures staring at mountain tops, so he spent his whole time gatekeeping mountains so he'd enjoy them peacefully on his own. I'm even suspecting that he instructed in his last will for his works not to be translated into English either.. Never thought in my whole life I'd be so frustrated I can't speak Norwegian!
What a piece of work this guy was. He was basically a loner who loved taking pictures staring at mountain tops, so he spent his whole time gatekeeping mountains so he'd enjoy them peacefully on his own. I'm even suspecting that he instructed in his last will for his works not to be translated into English either.. Never thought in my whole life I'd be so frustrated I can't speak Norwegian!
December 7, 2015
Tracking Rust Cohle’s thoughts and his speeches brought me to The Conspiracy against the human race by Thomas ligotti and then to this : The Last Messiah by a Norwegian philosopher named Peter Wessel Zappfe about whom Thomas Hylland Eriksen said :
The essay starts like this :
From Zapffe point of view, We , Homosapiens, like all living species, have physiological and social needs ( food, security, rest, … ) that can be easy to satisfy. However, we have an additional need ( the need of a meaning to our life ) which -according to zapffe- we can’t satisfy unless we delude ourselves into believing in a false meaning, or we remain honest and confirm the meaninglessness of life. (–which reminds me of the absurdism by albert camus -)
So Zapffe sees the human consciousness more as a curse -“a breach in the very unity of life, a biological paradox, an abomination, an absurdity, an exaggeration of disastrous nature. Life had overshot its target, blowing itself apart.”- that makes the human being miserable when he realize that his life is meaningless and will end by death. Unlike other species that only worry about food, sex and defecation.
And according to Zappfe, we have four mechanisms to protect ourselves from our self-consciousness. These are : isolation, anchoring, distraction and sublimation.
“....Zapffe's major work was a massive treatise on human tragedy, Om det tragiske, published during the Second World War. The masterpiece was written at the same time as Sartre was working out the doctrine of Existentialism. Sartre wrote in a world language, while Zapffe's Dano-Norwegian was never translated. Had it been published in German, English, or French, the book might have been a classic today.”
The essay starts like this :
“One night in long bygone times, man awoke and saw himself.
He saw that he was naked under cosmos, homeless in his own body. All things dissolved before his testing thought, wonder above wonder, horror above horror unfolded in his mind.
Then woman too awoke and said it was time to go and slay. And he fetched his bow and arrow, a fruit of the marriage of spirit and hand, and went outside beneath the stars. But as the beasts arrived at their waterholes where he expected them of habit, he felt no more the tiger's bound in his blood, but a great psalm about the brotherhood of suffering between everything alive.
That day he did not return with prey, and when they found him by the next moon, he was sitting dead by the waterhole ‘’
From Zapffe point of view, We , Homosapiens, like all living species, have physiological and social needs ( food, security, rest, … ) that can be easy to satisfy. However, we have an additional need ( the need of a meaning to our life ) which -according to zapffe- we can’t satisfy unless we delude ourselves into believing in a false meaning, or we remain honest and confirm the meaninglessness of life. (–which reminds me of the absurdism by albert camus -)
So Zapffe sees the human consciousness more as a curse -“a breach in the very unity of life, a biological paradox, an abomination, an absurdity, an exaggeration of disastrous nature. Life had overshot its target, blowing itself apart.”- that makes the human being miserable when he realize that his life is meaningless and will end by death. Unlike other species that only worry about food, sex and defecation.
And according to Zappfe, we have four mechanisms to protect ourselves from our self-consciousness. These are : isolation, anchoring, distraction and sublimation.
January 12, 2016
A sample essay of Zapffe who is currently trendy, though little of his work has been translated into English. I suspect lack of translation has helped his rep rather than hurt it. Thomas Ligotti has lifted an atmospheric philosophy from him that has in turn influenced the popular show True Detective. This "scholarly" essay is as undisciplined as any you are likely to find on the Internet, and that is an achievement. Perhaps it's the translation, but I'm skeptical; mind you, not pessimistic. If life isn't worth its effort, philosophically, then soccur can be garnered through literary self-indulgence. Zapffe wanders about claiming man has unfortunately evolved into too smart a creature. Man is the miracle of nature, yet then is quickly forsaken by it. Man falls from his big intellect into a "cosmic" horror of his being, which then extends to his relationship with the whole world. Man is good at tricking himself through various methods: isolation, anchoring, distraction, and sublimation. Psychiatry appears to be the art through which humans purposely delude themselves with the tools listed above, which provide false security, false identity & false worth. Nietzsche stinks throughout this essay. That's because FN's influence can be felt throughout, whether it be style, imagery, or an assault on values as psychological trickery. Not present, however, is Nietzsche's heroic optimism, which makes this essay feel like....well, rotting Nietzsche. The German who wrote his rules for life, "a yes, a no, a straight line, a goal", has had his corpse pilfered of its weakest limb; and this crude dissection has left this poor Norwegian with just a single resounding NO. He was entitled to beat himself with it as much as he liked, but I'd have recommended against it. As I do presently to those so....tempted?
March 6, 2017
The human condition stripped naked, thruthfully and painfully.
June 15, 2017
Mixed feelings about the very brief glorification of communism, but overall pretty good
February 28, 2018
The foundational work of philosophical pessimism. Though I myself am more of an indifferentist than a pessimist, I feel that this is a perspective sorely lacking in our society and needed to provide balance to our discourse. While it is true that Ligotti has built and expanded off of this though in far more recent times, I feel that the original essay contains a more neutral tone of observation as to the dangers of consciousness and is probably more accessible to a more general audience.
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December 3, 2025The thoughts of the young are inexperienced, but precisely for this reason they are sharp; the thoughts of the old are mature, and precisely for this reason they are dull. Radicalism fits one; tolerance fits the other. Youth and patience are usually irreconcilable, and it is no surprise that extreme ideologies have their largest fanbase among the young.
November 20, 2017
Took the abstract thoughts I have and put them into cohesive words.
January 26, 2018
This guy's a bummer...
https://philosophynow.org/issues/45/T...
https://philosophynow.org/issues/45/T...
February 4, 2015
“Know yourselves- be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye.”Zapffe believes human consciousness is a tragic byproduct of evolution, an overdeveloped skill not fitting into nature's design. Our reflections on concepts such as life and death cannot be pacified, and we are imbued with a need nature cannot satisfy. The tragedy, following this theory, is that humans spend all their time trying not to be human. The human being, therefore, is a paradox.
We limit/give meaning to this consciousness using 4 mechanics to repress it:
Isolation: "a fully arbitrary dismissal from consciousness of all disturbing and destructive thought and feeling".In the end there is no point in having pain just as there is no point in having pleasure, because the experience is a random attachment to consciousness, the meaning of which is beyond our authority to decide (only the will to live can do this, and it implies the necessity of pain).
Anchoring: The "fixation of points within, or construction of walls around, the liquid fray of consciousness". Anchoring provides individuals a value or ideal that allows them to focus their attentions in a consistent manner. Zapffe also applied the anchoring principle to society, and stated "God, the Church, the State, morality, fate, the laws of life, the people, the future"are all examples of collective primary anchoring firmaments.
Distraction: When "one limits attention to the critical bounds by constantly enthralling it with impressions". Distraction focuses all of one's energy on a task or idea to prevent the mind from turning in on itself.
Sublimation: The refocusing of energy away from negative outlets, toward positive ones. The individual distances him / herself and looks at their existence from an aesthetic point of view (e.g., writers, poets, painters.) Zapffe himself pointed out that his produced works were the product of sublimation.
Overall this work reads like a manifesto and a call to action, "Here is the way it is. Something must be done about it." Strange words for a nihilist.
December 9, 2015
Might be interesting for those interested in more pessimistic view of the world.
I read this philosophical essay mostly because some guy on reddit mentioned it to describe views similar to the ones i was having at the time. It did have those views, but gave nothing else of value to me.
I read this philosophical essay mostly because some guy on reddit mentioned it to describe views similar to the ones i was having at the time. It did have those views, but gave nothing else of value to me.
September 8, 2020
Using this as a placeholder for his singular essay that I've read, The Last Messiah, which I think is a tremendous work. Would love to read a full selection of his essays but haven't been able to turn up anything in English.
January 13, 2015
Wish I could find his main work in English, German, or French. I recommend this short excerpt.
November 16, 2016
The truest summary to the human condition/problem.
May 31, 2017
The sentences written in this essay bring Zapffe at the pedestal of this realistic , rationalized abyss ; even though the word ''pedestal'' will be too much sublimated for Zapffe's philosophical and life optic. I really hope that his fundamental work will be soon translated in English.
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November 2, 2018“Most humans learn to save themselves by artificially reducing the content of their consciousness..
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