Nihilism and imposture in the light of the spanish Baroque

Abstract

This essay is an analysis of the Spanish Baroque in its relation with the phenomena of nihilism and imposture. The central thesis argues that this Baroque presupposes an aporetic nihilism, according to which the reality of the world is constituted by the unity between plenitude (whole and infinite) and nothingness. This nihilism, according to the essay, is normative and enables the advance in truth and moral rectitude through the exercise of ingenio, from the theoretical point of view, and through heroic praxis, on the practical level. Critical analysis makes it possible to expose an identitary nihilism tied to foolishness, as a rupture from ingenio, and ontological imposture, consisting of dream that is unconscious of itself. Throughout the argument, I analyse the uniformizing nihilism and imposture by mediocritization which the Spanish Baroque opposes, and I undertake a critique of oppositional nihilism, interpreting baroque ontology as exclusive opposition between the infinite whole and the nothingness of the world, and I conclude by justifying a baroque moral imposture.