The author of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race draws heavily on Zapffe’s defenses.
Zapffe’s report is this: The abyss is real. The defenses are lies. And yet, the sunset is still beautiful. Download the PDF. Read the four mechanisms. Then go for a walk. zapffe on the tragic pdf
Four defensive strategies (Zapffe’s “mechanisms”) The author of The Conspiracy Against the Human
The character Rust Cohle famously mirrors Zapffe’s "biological mistake" philosophy. zapffe on the tragic pdf
Zapffe believes that the vast majority of humanity relies on the first three. The fourth—sublimation—is the territory of the tragicist: the one who sees clearly and creates anyway.