People

Henri Böschen

Assistant Lecturer
School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Postgraduate Research Student
School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
 Henri Böschen

Profile

Biography

I am a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Essex. My PhD research focuses on German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's conception of nihilism and its relation to temporality, in particular to the experience of transience. The project is funded by the CHASE Doctoral Training Partnership. I am also an Assistant Lecturer teaching on the module 'Death, God, and the Meaning of Life' (PY113). Before beginning my PhD at Essex, I studied for a MA in Philosophy at King's College London and for a BA in International Relations and Politics at Cardiff University.

Qualifications

  • BSc Econ International Relations and Politics (with a Language) Cardiff University (2020)

  • MA Philosophy King's College London (2021)

Research and professional activities

Thesis

The Prehistory of Nihilism: Experiences of Time in Friedrich Nietzsches The Birth of Tragedy

Friedrich Nietzsche argues that nihilism, the existential stance that life is meaningless, is linked to transience. Examining Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy I seek to uncover the roots of this link in Ancient Greek. I argue that the pre-Socratics did not experience time nihilistically. With the death of tragedy a new experience of time as history emerges which develops down to the 19th century into an experience of time as transience, while the incipient nihilism becomes full blown nihilism.

Supervisor: Béatrice Han-Pile

Research interests

F.W.J. Schelling

Friedrich Nietzsche

Martin Heidegger

Historically: Ancient Greek Philosophy, Neoplatonism, Post Kantian Philosophy (19th and 20th century)

Thematically: Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Time/Temporality, Phenomenology, Aesthetics, Ethics

Contact

hb21544@essex.ac.uk

Location:

Colchester Campus