Nihilism and Will to Power in Dostoievsky

A Reading of The Player from Nietzsche's Thought

Authors

  • Miguel Gonzalez Vallejos Pontifical Catholic University of Chile image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/en.25.2025.20439

Keywords:

The Gambler, Dostoievsky, Nietzsche, nihilism, will to power

Abstract

In this work we propose a reading of Dostoevsky's novel The Player. In contrast to those who consider that this short novel is a minor work or that it has a humorous character, it will be argued that it should be read from the Nietzschean concepts of "nihilism" and "will to power", since in it the Russian author explores the problem of the radical disorientation of human existence after the loss of the horizon of transcendence based on faith in God and presents a cynical and nihilistic character who seeks to find the meaning of his existence in the ecstasy that roulette and gambling produce.

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References

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Published

2026-01-13

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How to Cite

Nihilism and Will to Power in Dostoievsky: A Reading of The Player from Nietzsche’s Thought. (2026). Estudios Nietzsche, 25, 73-90. https://doi.org/10.24310/en.25.2025.20439