# peter wessel zapffe ![[portraitofpeterwesselzapffe.jpg|300]] zapffe in 1949 born: 18 december 1899 tromsø norway died: 12 october 1990 (aged 90) asker norway occupation(s): philosopher author artist lawyer mountaineer spouses: bergliot espolin johnson ​ ​ (m. 1935; div. 1941)​ - berit riis christensen ​ ​ (m. 1952)​ awards: fritt ord honorary award (1987) education alma mater: university of oslo philosophical work era: 20th-century philosophy school: continental philosophy - biosophy - philosophical pessimism main interests: metaphysics nihilism philosophical pessimism notable works: "the last messiah" - om det tragiske notable ideas: antinatalism - biosophy - "the last messiah" - remedies against panic - peter wessel zapffe (; norwegian:; 18 december 1899 - 12 october 1990) was a norwegian philosopher author artist lawyer and mountaineer. ey is often noted for ir philosophically pessimistic and fatalistic view of human existence. ir system of philosophy was inspired by the german philosopher arthur schopenhauer as well as ir firm advocacy of antinatalism. ir thoughts regarding the error of human life are presented in the essay "the last messiah" ("den sidste messias" 1933.) this essay is a shorter version of ir best-known work the philosophical treatise on the tragic (om det tragiske 1941) zapffe's view is that humans are born with an overdeveloped consciousness (self-reflection self-knowledge) which does not fit into nature's design. the human craving for justification on matters such as life death and meaning cannot be satisfied hence humanity has a need that life cannot fully satisfy. the tragedy following this theory is that humans spend ir time trying to dull ir consciousness to escape the burdens of existential reflection. the human being is thus a paradox given that self-reflection is one of the prime attributes associated with human consciousness. death anxiety is a major part of this reflection according to zapffe and the human being is unique among living beings in the ability to reflect on ir own forthcoming death in "the last messiah" zapffe described four principal defense mechanisms that humankind uses to avoid facing this paradox **+** isolation is "a fully arbitrary dismissal from consciousness of all disturbing and destructive thought and feeling" **+** anchoring is the "fixation of points within or construction of walls around the liquid fray of consciousness." the anchoring mechanism provides individuals with a value or an ideal to consistently focus ir attention on. zapffe also applied the anchoring principle to society and stated that "god the church the state morality fate the laws of life the people the future" are all examples of collective primary anchoring firmaments **+** distraction is when "one limits attention to the critical bounds by constantly enthralling it with impressions." distraction focuses all of one's energy on a task or idea to prevent the mind from turning in on itself **+** sublimation is the refocusing of energy away from negative outlets toward positive ones. the individuals distance themselves and look at ir existence from an aesthetic point of view (eg writers poets painters.) zapffe himself pointed out that ir produced works were the product of sublimation on the occasion of the 65th birthday of the norwegian-canadian philosopher herman tønnessen the book i choose the truth. a dialogue between peter wessel zapffe and herman tønnessen (1983) was published. the two had known each other already for many years. tønnessen had studied at the university of oslo together with arne næss # other interests and works zapffe was a prolific mountaineer and took a very early interest in environmentalism; this form of nature conservationism sprung from the intent not of protecting nature but to avoid human culturalisation of nature zapffe was the author of many humorous short stories about climbing and other adventures in nature son of the apothecary fritz gottlieb zapffe and gudrun wessel zapffe was related on ir maternal side to the danish-norwegian vice-admiral peter tordenskjold in kristiania in 1921 zapffe learned for the first time about mountaineering beginning with climbing challenges in bærum in kolsås the first mountain ey climbed. in 1924 ey was the first person to climb the top of tommeltott in ullsfjorden; in 1925 the småting (south side) in kvaløya; and the bentsjordtind between malangen and balsfjorden. and in the same year: okshorn snekollen and mykkjetind were climbed. in 1926 it was a summit in senja and also the hollenderan summit in kvaløya first trodden by ir: in 1987 the highest peak of the hollenderan in kvaløya was named after ir. today the summit is called "zapffes tind" ('the top of zapffe'.) in 1928 zapffe climbed the first summit of skamtinden and was also the first to climb the front side of svolværgeita in 1940 zapffe applied to the norsk tindeklubb but was rejected. however in 1965 ey was accepted into a mountaineering society but as an honorary member and again in 1987 in a mountaineering club from tromsø in 1928 due to a storm umberto nobile's zeppelin the italia crashed on the way back to italy. roald amundsen (a friend of the zapffe family) and zapffe assisted in the rescue of the zeppelin crew. there zappfe served as interpreter for the expedition. later on the icebreaker ds «isbjørn» zapffe served as german interpreter ir father was also on board: the expedition was then to search for the missing amundsen but was unsuccessful zapffe left tromsø on june 5 1929. ey found a room on erling skjalgssøns street in kristiania living quite frugally and in a mentally catastrophic state: "the idea of death as the greatest consolation and escape and which is always at hand penetrates me with even greater force" similar to emil cioran ey lived from 1978 on a state pension. in 1987 ey received the honor award from the fritt ord foundation for "the original and versatile character of ir literary work" in ir last years of life when ey was frequently visited by journalists ey had an interview with asker og bærum budstikke in which ey described himself as a nihilist: "i am not a pessimist. i am a nihilist. namely not a pessimist in the sense that i have upsetting apprehensions but a nihilist in a sense that is not moral" ![[stereoscop-1949bypeterwesselzapffe.jpg|300]] zapffe with camera 1949 zapffe's hobbies were varied showing an early enthusiasm for painting. however photography occupied ir since the age of 12 through ir father (himself a photographer) who lent ir photographic equipment to ir son. this also meant a kind of compensation for ir myopia. the impact of ir work as a photographer can be seen reflected in ir work rough joys (1969) where it seems that ey reconstructs ekphrase from ir photographic documentation during ir trips to the mountains. much of ir photographic production is currently cultural heritage zapffe married bergljot espolin johnsen in 1935; they divorced in 1941. ey married berit riis christensen in 1952 they remained together until ir death in 1990; berit died in may 2008. zapffe remained childless by choice. ey was lifelong friends with the norwegian philosopher and fellow mountaineer arne næss **+** om det tragiske oslo 1941 and 1983. on the tragic translated by ryan l. showler (2024) **+** den fortapte sønn. en dramatisk gjenfortælling (en: the prodigal son: a dramatic renarration) oslo 1951 **+** indføring i litterær dramaturgi (en: introduction to literary dramaturgy) oslo 1961 **+** den logiske sandkasse. elementær logikk for universitet og selvstudium (en: the logical sandpit: elementary logic for university and individual study) oslo 1965 **+** lyksalig pinsefest. fire samtaler med jørgen (en: blissful pentecost: four dialogues with jørgen) oslo 1972 **+** hos doktor wangel. en alvorlig spøk i fem akter (en: with doctor wangel: an earnest jest in five acts) by ib henriksen (pseudonym.) oslo 1974. play **+** rikets hemmelighet. en kortfattet jesus-biografi (en: the secret of the kingdom: a short biography of jesus) oslo 1985 # # collections of ir shorter writings **+** essays og epistler (en: essays and epistles) oslo 1967 **+** barske glæder og andre temaer fra et liv under åpen himmel (en: rough joys and other themes from a life lived under the open sky) oslo 1969 **+** spøk og alvor. epistler og leilighetsvers (en: jest and earnest: epistles and occasional verse) oslo 1977 **+** jeg velger sannheten: en dialog mellom peter wessel zapffe og herman tønnessen (en: i choose the truth: a dialogue between peter wessel zapffe and herman tonnesen) oslo 1983 **+** hvordan jeg blev så flink og andre tekster (en: how i became so clever and other texts) oslo 1986 **+** vett og uvett. stubber fra troms og nordland (en: sense and nonsense: short stories from troms and nordland) by einar k. aas and p. w. zapffe trondheim 1942. illustrated by kaare espolin johnson ![[jægervatnetbypeterwesselzapffe.jpg|300]] jægervatnet c. 1945 ![[jægervatnetca.1945bypeterwesselzapffe.jpg|300]] jægervatnet c. 1945 ![[(silhuetteravpersoner)bypeterwesselzapffe.jpg|300]] silhouettes of people c.  1950 **+** biosophy **+** emil cioran **+** existential crisis **+** herman tønnessen **+** nihilism **+** geophobia // republic of bob