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I wasn't satisfied with the essay, so I thought I'd share my understanding of Nihilism. This is coming from someone who has never read Nietzsche so take it with

I wasn't satisfied with the essay, so I thought I'd share my understanding of Nihilism. This is coming from someone who has never read Nietzsche so take it with a grain of salt, I'm curious to know where I might be off. First, I think we've all most commonly seen the "colloquial" form of Nihilism, which is a sort of despair over a lack of meaning in life. I'm pretty sure most people are aware that this is oversimplified, but it is partially grounded in actual Nihilism. The emphasis is put on despair, but the despair isn't the philosophy, just a product of it. To sum up Nihilism in a sentence: reality lacks inherent meaning, and any meaning we attempt to fulfill is ultimately chosen, not given to us. Importantly, most of the sense of purpose we see as being "real" comes from our desire to continue existing, (hence Existentialism.) But, existence is a choice. You simply choose to continue to exist, or you don't. (In which case you die.) This is the main insight which makes Nihilism disturbing. Philosophically, if our existence has no purpose, then it seems that everything else we believe and value is built on a foundation of sand.

brazzy 7y ago
>Philosophically, if our existence has no purpose, then it seems that everything else we believe and value is built on a foundation of sand. Only if you assume that only "inherent" or externally supplied meaning or purpose is valid. Why make that assumption, though?
- skolskoly 7y ago
  Well, that is what Nihilism explores. Under Nihilism we can still have a sort of right and wrong, but only with respect to goals. The goals you pick, are of course arbitrary. However, reality sort of strong-arms us into continuing our existence as a precondition to choosing any other goal (aside from death), and in that sense all other goals become subordinate to that one. I guess there are some other ways to interpret it, but regardless, the implications of this vary from somewhat Utopian (Transhumanism) to very Dystopian (The Borg.) I'm not a Nihilist but if I were I wouldn't be too happy about it.
IggleSniggle 7y ago
I won't speak to what "colloquial Nihilism" is because I think this will be highly dependent on your personal experiences. I think you're basically right about what nihilism is, but I don't find the main insight to be disturbing at all. I never truly felt free, liberated, until I had that insight. Prior to that insight, in young adulthood, I explored Hedonism and Existentialism, but it turned out that the secret is to just stop caring about it all so much and just live/die/whatever. Let it be. It brings me joy to not care if I live or die, though my instincts will tend towards keeping me alive. It brings me joy to not care if I succeed or fail, although it's fun to Try sometimes. I enjoy trying to do right by others, raise good kids, but I don't worry about it when I fail. It's just a ride; people get on, people get off.

brazzy 7y ago

>Philosophically, if our existence has no purpose, then it seems that everything else we believe and value is built on a foundation of sand. Only if you assume that only "inherent" or externally supplied meaning or purpose is valid. Why make that assumption, though?

skolskoly 7y ago
Well, that is what Nihilism explores. Under Nihilism we can still have a sort of right and wrong, but only with respect to goals. The goals you pick, are of course arbitrary. However, reality sort of strong-arms us into continuing our existence as a precondition to choosing any other goal (aside from death), and in that sense all other goals become subordinate to that one. I guess there are some other ways to interpret it, but regardless, the implications of this vary from somewhat Utopian (Transhumanism) to very Dystopian (The Borg.) I'm not a Nihilist but if I were I wouldn't be too happy about it.

IggleSniggle 7y ago

I won't speak to what "colloquial Nihilism" is because I think this will be highly dependent on your personal experiences. I think you're basically right about what nihilism is, but I don't find the main insight to be disturbing at all. I never truly felt free, liberated, until I had that insight. Prior to that insight, in young adulthood, I explored Hedonism and Existentialism, but it turned out that the secret is to just stop caring about it all so much and just live/die/whatever. Let it be. It brings me joy to not care if I live or die, though my instincts will tend towards keeping me alive. It brings me joy to not care if I succeed or fail, although it's fun to Try sometimes. I enjoy trying to do right by others, raise good kids, but I don't worry about it when I fail. It's just a ride; people get on, people get off.