Nihilism is a
philosophical position which argues that the world, and especially human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible
truth, or essential value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following: there is no reasonable proof of the existence of a higher ruler or creator, a "true morality" is unknown, and secular ethics are impossible; therefore, life has no truth, and no action is known to be preferable to any other.
[1]
Nihilism is often more a charge leveled against a particular idea, movement, or group, than it is an actual philosophical position to which someone overtly subscribes. Movements such as
Dadaism as well as
Futurism[2] and
deconstructionism,
[3] among others, have been described by commentators as "nihilist" at various times in various contexts. Often this means or is meant to imply that the beliefs of the accuser are more
substantial or
truthful, whereas the beliefs of the accused are nihilistic, and thereby comparatively amount to
nothing.
Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example,
Baudrillard and others have called
postmodernity a nihilistic epoch,
[4] and some
Christian theologians and figures of authority have asserted that
modernity[3] and
postmodernity[5] represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilistic.
Prominent philosophers who have written on the subject of nihilism include
Friedrich Nietzsche and
Martin Heidegger. Nietzsche described Christianity as a nihilistic religion because it evaded the challenge of finding meaning in earthly life, creating instead a spiritual projection where mortality and suffering were removed instead of transcended. He believed nihilism resulted from the "
death of God", and insisted that it was something to be overcome, by returning meaning to a
monistic reality. (He sought instead a "pragmatic idealism," in contrast to the prominent influence of Schopenhauer's "cosmic idealism.") Heidegger argued that the term "
nihilism has a very specific meaning. What remains unquestioned and forgotten in metaphysics is being; and hence, it is nihilistic,"
[6] and that nihilism rested on the reduction of Being to "mere value."[
citation needed]
