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Florida, University of South. “About Us.” USF, 2022, http://philosophy.usf.edu/faculty/oschutte/.

Schutte, Ofelia. Beyond Nihilism: Nietzsche without Masks. University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Schutte, Ofelia, director. Ethics in The Americas Conference. YouTube, University of Oregon, 3 Aug. 2012, https://youtu.be/cbTUbrOAgZ8. Accessed 1 Nov. 2022.

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Excerpt from: Dependency Work, Women, and The Global Economy 

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Excerpt from: Dependency Work, Women, and The Global Economy 

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"How does the neo-liberal program, satisfying the wealth occurring dreams of the abstract man, effect the ordinary lives of concrete women? How is the distribution of chores and care-giving activities affected by the neo-liberal utopia? I argue that the west holds conflicting values when it promotes ideals of personal independence for women and at the same time that it supports neo-liberal policies of structural adjustments that require the trimming down of social services. If the dependency worker lacks control over the use of her time and she is restricted in space to the general area or the specific location where the care giving responsibilities take place, a significant disruption of her normal development occurs."

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Ofelia Schutte's Contributions to Philosophy

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Ofelia Schutte's Contributions to Philosophy

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Ofelia Schutte takes a critical lens to systems of power and oppression. She is regarded in high esteem as a leading philosophical voice in Latin American Philosophy. She offers an important perspective, one that may be often overlooked and overshadowed by Eurocentric perspectives, which is why her work is so important. Her objective regarding cultural studies was to ethically examine minority populations without bias and avoiding cultural assimilation of these groups.

She modernizes philosophy in refreshing ways. She argues for environmental protection, dissolution of patriarchal power structures, and analyzes the impacts of oppression on marginalized groups. She rejects the notion that philosophy is useless, and she has largely proven that false in her influential works that blazed the trail for feminist and Latina philosophers who followed her.

She argues that any move toward a more equitable, ethical society must "conceptualize a different economic, social, political, cultural, and ultimately personal voice for women in society more than the ambiguous one women occupy today- torn as they are between tradition and change, or between male dominance and female emancipation."

Her most notable works include:

Beyond Nihilism: Nietzsche Without Masks (1984)

Cultural Identity and Social Liberation in Latin American Thought (1993)

Cultural Alterity: Cross-Cultural Communication and Feminist Thought in North-South Dialogues (Hypatia 1998)

Dependency Work, Women, and the Global Economy (Subject of Care 2000)

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How do we escape nihilism? Ought we escape nihilism if it is an integrated part of human existence? If we are pre-destined for self-destruction, is an attempt to "arrest the power of nihilism" futile, and if so, will the attempt simply cause more suffering?

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"In patriarchal culture, one is so dominated by the fear of punishment, that one fears it in one form or another, even if one knows that the Old God is dead."

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According to Nietzsche, Nihilism is "an emptiness that devours increasing amounts of life, yet fails to be satisfied with living."

According to Nietzsche, Nihilism can be a result of "The Death of God," or the societal movement towards secularism that he argued would result in a complete abandonment of values and morality.

According to Schutte, "Nihilism acquires its power indirectly through the indoctrination of the human conscience in the dualism between good and evil. This indoctrination is then reinforced through the use of punishment."

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"It should be emphasized that in a patriarchal society, nihilism signifies the death of the patriarch and his absolute authority to control life. If the Patriarch is dead, it is asked; who will replace him?"

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Beyond Nihilism: Nietzsche Without Masks offers a brilliant modern perspective on the implications of nihilistic thought, and provides an alternative to apathy and suffering that promotes a hope for a bright and productive future for human beings in the aftermath of The Death of God, providing that a cultural value shift takes place. Dissolution of Duailty does not have to lead to meaningless, or a society void of morality. It can mean liberation from oppression, love of life, vitality, and freedom.

Patriarchal societies rely on and perpetuate nihilism, and in the absence of God, replace God with forms of power and punishment for the sake of social control, but ultimately end in self-destruction. It is crucial that culturally, we reassess our patriarchal values in order to diminish the effects of nihilism and live without fear of punishment.

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Schutte's main areas of focus include:

Feminist Theory

Latin American Philosophy

The works of Friedrich Nietzsche

Philosophy of Culture

Post-Colonialist Philosophy

Ethics

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Ofelia Schutte originally attended college with a focus on  English, of which she obtained a Bachelor's from Barry College in 1966, followed by a Master's Degree in English in 1969 from University of Miami. Her Masters in Philosophy came just a year later. She received her PhD in Philosophy from Yale in 1978. During her educational pursuit, Dr. Schutte served as an instructor of Philosophy at Miami University, as well as an Assistant Professor of Humanities at University of Florida. She has also served on multiple editorial boards for philosophical journals, including the prominent feminist journal Hypatia. She is a highly accomplished academic, and her roles and reaches of influence extend far beyond philosophy.

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One of Ofelia Schutte's first publications is her attempt to "unmask" Friedrich Nietzche's philosophical arguments concerning Nihilism, Dualism, Power, and Morality. She offers a Feminist and modernized lens to the concerns and implications of nihilistic thought, and critically unravels Nietzche's personal biases and cultural influences that become pervasive in his arguments, and ultimately de-legitimize his work.

Schutte aligns herself with many of Nietzsche's observations about Nihilism, but applies them to modern scenarios in which she shows the negative impacts of nihilistic attitudes on society, politics, structures and systems of power and oppression. Interestingly, she points out that Nietzsche is sometimes successful in overcoming Nihilism, but when he fails to do so, it is a result of his alignment with patriarchal systems of power that he relies on to enforce moral values in the absence of God.

"When the theme of domination is exclusively pursued in his work, Nietzsche's understanding of life turns out to be self-destructive."

Schutte argues that Nihilism in a modern sense, ought to be associated with apathy for environmental issues, the human tendency for self-destruction, and that Nihilism permeates every facet of western culture and values. She offers an alternative: The death of God can be liberating, rather than meaningless, because it offers "the possibility of human integration."

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"The tendencies in Western culture toward self-destruction have accelerated since the middle and late 19th century. At present, the highest political authorities in the world have the power to destroy human life in unprecedented ways. Non-human life is generally destroyed with great thoughtlessness because the attention given to continuity and interdependence of all life forms is only superficial. The Earth is rapidly being depleted of its natural resources, but the development of weapons systems is assured... The destruction of future life forms through the excessive and careless appropriation of presently available resources is a manifestation of what Nietzsche identified as a resentment against time. The wish to avoid responsibility for the future, like the desire to avoid responsibility for the past, is a sign of emptiness. The challenge to arrest the power of nihilism is still before us." -Beyond Nihilism: Nietzsche Without Masks

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Born in Cuba in 1945, Dr. Schutte is a living Philosopher! She is recognized as a prominent and influential Philosopher in Women's Studies, and is a trail blazer for Women and Latinx people in the Field of Philosophy in the U.S. She is currently a Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida, where she has served since 1999.