Nihilism

What is the meaning of life?

We have always been unable to impartially address this question, nevertheless, plenty of people have discovered solace in various philosophies and ideologies to stifle the uneasiness that it causes.

In various religions, a divinity made the universe, put us all in it, and whatever we do on this Earth will be utilized to decide when and how we spend the rest of our life.

For some others, the significance of life is the love we share with companions, our friends, and family. Some others accept the presence of life in itself is the thing that makes it worth living.

But a true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no purpose, and have no meaning.

This is Nihilism, The Belief In Nothing.

Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and meaningless. The term Nihilism” comes from the Latin nihil, which means not anything, or nothing.

Many of us must have had nihilistic thoughts. like our lives is meaningless, and we have no intrinsic value.

Just pause and take a moment to think about your beliefs, and ideologies and just ask the question - why? Why do we believe those things? Where did they come from? Who did they come from? Keep asking and soon, you’ll arrive at a point where there’s no longer an answer, you’ll arrive at nothing.

All the religions of the world, all our scientific discovery, but yet the question “why” is one that we still cannot answer. And so for the nihilist, it is at this point that they conclude that there is no why. There is no answer, there is simply nothing.

The risk of nihilism is that it alienates us from anything good or true. Yet believing in nothing has positive potential.

The Difference Between Nihilism And Pessimism

Pessimists believe in the worst outcome. Any individual with a pessimistic personality incline towards a more negative view of life they usually expect negative outcomes and are suspicious when things are going well. Pessimists still believe there’s good in the world.

Nihilists, do not believe in anything. They don’t believe that there is evil in the world, neither do they believe that there is good in the world. In the mind of the nihilist, the world simply exists and humans created morality, thus creating good and evil.

The glass cup metaphor for instance. Optimists say they see the glass as half full, while pessimists say they see the glass as half empty. Whilst Nihilists say throw the entire cup away, because what does it matter if it’s full or empty? Full, empty, good, bad, it’s all irrelevant.

Nihilism, Cynicism, And Apathy

Cynics believe that people are always motivated purely by self-interest. They do not believe that anyone can have intrinsically good motives. They have no faith in the human species and believe we are all entirely selfish, only fighting for our own benefit, good exists out there somewhere, just not in humans.

Apathetic people don’t care. They lack the motivation to do anything or just don't care about what's going on around them. They might believe that there’s meaning to life, but they simply don’t care about it.

Nihilism, on the other hand, is the idea that there’s no grand design or purpose. Nothing to believe in, and therefore, no meaning.

Different Kind Of Nihilism

Political Nihilism is the position with no political goals whatsoever, they believe that for humanity to move forward, all political, social, and religious order must be destroyed along with the principles, values, and social institutions that endorse them.

Ethical Nihilism (Moral nihilism) rejects the idea of ethical or moral values. With this type of nihilism, good or bad is only defined by society and as such, it shouldn’t be followed if we as a species will ever attain absolute individual freedom. We can kind of just do whatever we want. Nothing is morally right or wrong.

Existential Nihilism It’s the understanding that life has no value or meaning. It’s the most popular kind of nihilism.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was a philosopher, he argued both for and against nihilism at the same time. He explained that there is no objective structure or order in our world except the one we create for ourselves. He once said,

“every belief, every considering something true is necessarily false, because there is simply no true world.”

He believed nihilism would expose all of humanity’s “beliefs” and “truths”. As he famously said, “God is dead.”

He wasn’t talking about the actual god of the religions, he was talking metaphorically about the power that religious orders held at the time

But at the same time, Friedrich argued against nihilism saying that in the coming centuries, the arrival of nihilism would drive civilization towards a catastrophe. A disaster waiting to implode.

He approaches the problem of nihilism as deeply personal, stating that this predicament of the modern world is a problem that has "become conscious" in him.

"I praise, I do not reproach, [nihilism’s] arrival. I believe it is one of the greatest crises, a moment of the deepest self-reflection of humanity. Whether man recovers from it, whether he becomes master of this crisis, is a question of his strength!"

William Shakespeare once wrote,

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing.”

Conclusion

If life is truly meaningless and we have no purpose for being here, our response should be to make the best out of a bad situation. Instead of seeing the glass half full or half empty, we can simply throw it out and drink directly from the faucet until we’re satisfied. Because at the end of the day, life alone is reason enough for living.

Sources: IEP, YourDictionary, Meaningness, Aperture, Wikipedia, aeon, verywellmind, lextutor