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The term nihilism was first introduced to philosophy by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (1743–1819), who used the term to characterize rationalism, [46] and in particular Spinoza's determinism and the Aufklärung, in order to carry out a reductio ad absurdum according to which all rationalism (philosophy as criticism) reduces to nihilism—and thus ...
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\"Nihilism\" comes from the Latin nihil, or nothing, which means not anything, that which does not exist. It appears in the verb \"annihilate,\" meaning to bring to nothing, to destroy completely. Early in the nineteenth century, Friedrich Jacobi used the word to negatively characterize transcendental idealism. It only became popularized, however, ...
In Russia, nihilism became identified with a loosely organized revolutionary movement (C.1860-1917) that rejected the authority of the state, church, and family. In his early writing, anarchist leader Mikhael Bakunin (1814-1876) composed the notorious entreaty still identified with nihilism: \"Let us put our trust in the eternal spirit which destro...
The earliest philosophical positions associated with what could be characterized as a nihilistic outlook are those of the Skeptics. Because they denied the possibility of certainty, Skeptics could denounce traditional truths as unjustifiable opinions. When Demosthenes (c.371-322 BC), for example, observes that \"What he wished to believe, that is w...
The caustic strength of nihilism is absolute, Nietzsche argues, and under its withering scrutiny \"the highest values devalue themselves. The aim is lacking, and 'Why' finds no answer\" (Will to Power). Inevitably, nihilism will expose all cherished beliefs and sacrosanct truths as symptoms of a defective Western mythos. This collapse of meaning, r...
In The Dark Side: Thoughts on the Futility of Life (1994), Alan Pratt demonstrates that existential nihilism, in one form or another, has been a part of the Western intellectual tradition from the beginning. The Skeptic Empedocles' observation that \"the life of mortals is so mean a thing as to be virtually un-life,\" for instance, embodies the sam...
In the twentieth century, it's the atheistic existentialist movement, popularized in France in the 1940s and 50s, that is responsible for the currency of existential nihilism in the popular consciousness. Jean-Paul Sartre's (1905-1980) defining preposition for the movement, \"existence precedes essence,\" rules out any ground or foundation for esta...
By the late 20th century, \"nihilism\" had assumed two different castes. In one form, \"nihilist\" is used to characterize the postmodern person, a dehumanized conformist, alienated, indifferent, and baffled, directing psychological energy into hedonistic narcissism or into a deep ressentiment that often explodes in violence. This perspective is de...
In contrast to the efforts to overcome nihilism noted above is the uniquely postmodern response associated with the current antifoundationalists. The philosophical, ethical, and intellectual crisis of nihilism that has tormented modern philosophers for over a century has given way to mild annoyance or, more interestingly, an upbeat acceptance of me...
French philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard characterizes postmodernism as an \"incredulity toward metanarratives,\" those all-embracing foundations that we have relied on to make sense of the world. This extreme skepticism has undermined intellectual and moral hierarchies and made \"truth\" claims, transcendental or transcultural, problematic. Postmo...
In The Banalization of Nihilism (1992) Karen Carr discusses the antifoundationalist response to nihilism. Although it still inflames a paralyzing relativism and subverts critical tools, \"cheerful nihilism\" carries the day, she notes, distinguished by an easy-going acceptance of meaninglessness. Such a development, Carr concludes, is alarming. If ...
It has been over a century now since Nietzsche explored nihilism and its implications for civilization. As he predicted, nihilism's impact on the culture and values of the 20th century has been pervasive, its apocalyptic tenor spawning a mood of gloom and a good deal of anxiety, anger, and terror. Interestingly, Nietzsche himself, a radical skeptic...
Nihilism can mean believing that nothing is real, believing that it’s impossible to know anything, believing that all values are based on nothing, especially moral values, or believing that life is inherently and utterly meaningless. We will discuss these different kinds of nihilism through its history and in section five.
Nihilism represented a crude form of positivism and materialism, a revolt against the established social order; it negated all authority exercised by the state, by the church, or by the family. It based its belief on nothing but scientific truth; science would be the solution of all social problems.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jul 7, 2023 · Nihilism is a family of views that works around the shared premise that there is no inherent value, meaning and order to life (independent of the value/meaning we create). You’ll usually hear something like “everything is meaningless” when discussing nihilism in mainstream culture.
Aug 3, 2022 · In reality, Nihilism was a widespread, complex, and broad-ranging way of thinking about the world. In order to understand the great complexity of Nihilism, philosophers often divide the school into five main fields of study. We examine the five key theories of Nihilism in our handy list below.
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Oct 20, 2022 · Nihilism is a philosophy that rejects values and the valuation society places on people, objects, and life, and instead states that everything is meaningless.
