Abstract
This paper aims at bringing out the relation between nihilism and the psychologized society. To accomplish this end, I reconsider Anthony Giddens' Modernity and Self-Identity (MSI) for his theory of the psychologized society and begin by discussing the issue posed by Giddens in MSI. According to his theory, modernity has been constructed by reflexive movements through the mediation of the expert system, one of which is "psychology," and is based upon the institutional repression of existential questions. Thus, we can see that in general, "psychology" has contributed to maintaining nihilism despite providing some opportunities to overcome nihilism. The same recognition can be seen in the works of Viktor Frankl, the founder of existential analysis, which criticizes psychologism and aims to help clients realize the meaning of their lives in order to overcome nihilism. Moreover, repressed existential questions have returned. There is an increase in the number of people who are concerned about "life politics," bringing to the fore repressed existential questions such as "how should I live?" From the arguments of Giddens and Frankl, it seems correct to conclude that "psychology," directly or indirectly, has urged people to conquer nihilism by seeking for the meaning of life. However, according to Martin Heidegger, the very act of seeking the meaning of life is the essence of nihilism. On the basis of his ontology, I show that the psycohologized society falls under two types of nihilism.
