Nihilism

1
Nihilism

• 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.
• A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no
  
• loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps,
• an impulse to destroy. 

2

• 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.

3

• For most of the 20th century nihilism has been
  associated with the belief that life is
  meaningless. Existential nihilism begins with the
  notion that the world is without meaning or
  purpose.
• Given this circumstance, existence itselfall
  action, suffering, and feelingis ultimately
  senseless and empty.

4

• Nietzsches Nihilism
• Among philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche is most
  often associated with nihilism. For Nietzsche,
  there is no objective order or structure in the
  world except what we give it.

5

• For Nietzsche, nihilism requires a radical
  repudiation of all imposed values and meaning
  Nihilism is . . . not only the belief that
  everything deserves to perish but one actually
  puts ones shoulder to the plough one
  destroys (Will to Power).
• Since Nietzsches compelling critique, nihilistic
  themes have preoccupied artists, social critics,
  and philosophers.