The author of The Conspiracy Against the Human Race draws heavily on Zapffe’s defenses.
Zapffe views the human mind as a freak of nature, similar to the oversized antlers of the extinct Irish Elk. zapffe on the tragic pdf
In his famous essay The Last Messiah (a distillation of the themes in The Tragic ), Zapffe outlines four methods humans use to avoid going insane from existential realization: The author of The Conspiracy Against the Human
Zapffe’s central argument is that human beings are "over-equipped" by evolution. We possess a surplus of consciousness that allows us to perceive our own mortality and the ultimate meaninglessness of the universe. zapffe on the tragic pdf