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Nihilism (/ˈnaɪ(h)ɪlɪzəm, ˈniː-/; from Latin nihil 'nothing') is a family of views within philosophy that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence,[1][2] such as knowledge, morality, or meaning.[3][4] The term was popularized by Ivan Turgenev and more specifically by his character Bazarov in the novel Fathers and Sons.
There have been different nihilist positions, including that human values are baseless, that life is meaningless, that knowledge is impossible, or that some set of entities does not exist or is meaningless or pointless.[5][6]
Scholars of nihilism may regard it as merely a label that has been applied to various separate philosophies,[7] or as a distinct historical concept arising out of nominalism, skepticism, and philosophical pessimism, as well as possibly out of Christianity itself.[8] Contemporary understanding of the idea stems largely from the Nietzschean 'crisis of nihilism', from which derive the two central concepts: the destruction of higher values and the opposition to the affirmation of life.[9][5] Earlier forms of nihilism, however, may be more selective in negating specific hegemonies of social, moral, political and aesthetic thought.[10]
The term is sometimes used in association with anomie to explain the general mood of despair at a perceived pointlessness of existence or arbitrariness of human principles and social institutions. Nihilism has also been described as conspicuous in or constitutive of certain historical periods. For example,[11] Jean Baudrillard[12][13] and others have characterized postmodernity as a nihilistic epoch[14] or mode of thought.[15] Likewise, some theologians and religious figures have stated that postmodernity[16] and many aspects of modernity[17] represent nihilism by a negation of religious principles. Nihilism has, however, been widely ascribed to both religious and irreligious viewpoints.[8]
In popular use, the term commonly refers to forms of existential nihilism, according to which life is without intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose.[18] Other prominent positions within nihilism include the rejection of all normative and ethical views (§ Moral nihilism), the rejection of all social and political institutions (§ Political nihilism), the stance that no knowledge can or does exist (§ Epistemological nihilism), and a number of metaphysical positions, which assert that non-abstract objects do not exist (§ Metaphysical nihilism), that composite objects do not exist (§ Mereological nihilism), or even that life itself does not exist.
- ^ Crosby, Donald A. (1998). "Nihilism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N037-1. ISBN 9780415250696.
As its name implies (from Latin nihil, 'nothing'), philosophical nihilism is a philosophy of negation, rejection, or denial of some or all aspects of thought or life.
- ^ Deleuze, Gilles (1962). Nietzsche and Philosophy. Translated by Tomlinson, Hugh. London: The Athlone Press (published 1983). ISBN 978-0-231-13877-2.
Nietzsche calls the enterprise of denying life and depreciating existence nihilism.
- ^ Veit, Walter (2018). "Existential Nihilism: The Only Really Serious Philosophical Problem". Journal of Camus Studies: 211–236. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.26965.24804.
- ^
- Crosby, Donald A. (1998). "Nihilism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N037-1. ISBN 9780415250696.
As its name implies (from Latin nihil, 'nothing'), philosophical nihilism is a philosophy of negation, rejection, or denial of some or all aspects of thought or life.
- Pratt, Alan. "Nihilism". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Archived from the original on 2010-04-12.
Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence.
- "Nihilism". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 January 2024.
In the 20th century, nihilism encompassed a variety of philosophical and aesthetic stances that, in one sense or another, denied the existence of genuine moral truths or values, rejected the possibility of knowledge or communication, and asserted the ultimate meaninglessness or purposelessness of life or of the universe.
- Harper, Douglas. "nihilism". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Crosby, Donald A. (1998). "Nihilism". Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.4324/9780415249126-N037-1. ISBN 9780415250696.
- ^ a b Pratt, Alan. "Nihilism." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Nihilism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2003-08-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). - ^ "The Meaning of Life#Nihilism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
terBorg1988was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b
- Gillespie, Michael Allen (1996). Nihilism Before Nietzsche. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226293486.
- Deleuze, Gilles (1983) [1962]. Nietzsche and Philosophy. Translated by Tomlinson, Hugh. London: The Athlone Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13877-2.
- ^ Gillespie, Michael Allen (1996). Nihilism Before Nietzsche. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226293486.
- ^
- Gillespie, Michael Allen (1996). Nihilism Before Nietzsche. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226293486.
- Petrov, Kristian (2019). "'Strike out, right and left!': a conceptual-historical analysis of 1860s Russian nihilism and its notion of negation". Stud East Eur Thought. 71 (2): 73–97. doi:10.1007/s11212-019-09319-4. S2CID 150893870.
- ^ Cited in Woodward, Ashley. 2002. "Nihilism and the Postmodern in Vattimo's Nietzsche." Minerva 6. ISSN 1393-614X. Archived from the original on 2010-04-05.
- ^ Baudrillard, Jean. 1993. "Game with Vestiges." In Baudrillard Live, edited by M. Gane.
- ^ Baudrillard, Jean. [1981] 1994. "On Nihilism." In Simulacra and Simulation, translated by S. F. Glasser.
- ^ See:
- Toynbee, Arnold J. 1963. A Study of History VIII & IX;
- Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination;
- Bell, Daniel. 1976. The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism.
- ^ See: Rose, Gillian. 1984. Dialectic of Nihilism; Carr, Karen L. 1988. The Banalization of Nihilism; Pope John-Paul II. 1995. Evangelium vitae: Il valore e l'inviolabilita delta vita umana. Milan: Paoline Editoriale Libri."
- ^ Leffel, Jim; Dennis McCallum. "The Postmodern Challenge: Facing the Spirit of the Age". Christian Research Institute. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19.
...the nihilism and loneliness of postmodern culture...
- ^ Phillips, Robert (1999). "Deconstructing the Mass". Latin Mass Magazine (Winter). Archived from the original on 2004-04-17.
For deconstructionists, not only is there no truth to know, there is no self to know it and so there is no soul to save or lose." and "In following the Enlightenment to its logical end, deconstruction reaches nihilism. The meaning of human life is reduced to whatever happens to interest us at the moment...
- ^ Pratt, Alan. "Existential Nihilism | Nihilism." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Nihilism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2003-08-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link): Existential nihilism is "the notion that life has no intrinsic meaning or value, and it is, no doubt, the most commonly used and understood sense of the word today."