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What Is Nihilism?
Nihil means “nothing.” -ism means “ideology.” But this seems to be self-refuting. To say that this means that someone “believes in nothing” is not really helpful, as believing in something suggests there is something to be believed in, but if that something is nothing, then there is not something to be believed in.
Therefore, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking “Everything is nihilism!” which of course leads to thinking “Nothing is nihilism!”
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MORE IDEAS ON THIS
Nihilism Is Closer To Idealism Than Cynicism
The idealists constructs an alternate reality, a reality of ideas. As the idealist focuses more and more on how reality ought to be, the idealist becomes less and less concerned with how reality is.
The utopian views of the idealist may be more compelling than the dystopi...
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Nihilism Vs Apathy
To be apathetic is to be without feeling, to be without desire. To be apathetic is to be seen as not caring about anything. The apathetic individual feels nothing. But it is not nihilism.
Apathy can be an attitude (“I don’t care about that”) or a character trait (“I don’t care abo...
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121 reads
The Morality of Pity
Pity is nihilistic insofar as it allows us to evade reality, by allowing us to feel that we are better than we are and better than those in need.
The morality of pity drives us to feel pity and to feel good for feeling pity. Having such feelings is worse than feeling nothing. If we feel go...
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117 reads
Nihilism Vs Cynicism
Today, a cynic is someone who looks down on society and sees it as fake, because the cynic sees the people who make up society as fake. He believes that morality is a mere pretense and people act on their own self-interest even when they seem to be helping other people.
Cynicism, like pess...
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200 reads
Nihilism versus Pessimism
If optimism is hopefulness, then pessimism is hopelessness. Pessimism is dark and depressing. But it is not nihilism.
To be with a pessimist is to know that you are with a pessimist. But you can be with a nihilist and have no idea. Indeed you could yourself be a nihilist and have no idea. S...
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Related collections
Other curated ideas on this topic:
Nihilism versus Pessimism
If optimism is hopefulness, then pessimism is hopelessness. Pessimism is dark and depressing. But it is not nihilism.
To be with a pessimist is to know that you are with a pessimist. But you can be with a nihilist and have no idea. Indeed you could yourself be a nihilist and have no idea. S...
Cultural Relativism And Moral Nihilism
The belief that nothing is morally right or wrong(moral nihilism), and the belief that morals are culture-specific(cultural relativism) seems to be in retreat everywhere. There are 2 motivations for this -
- Moral dogmatism(negative motivation)- those who wish to dogmat...
The Meaning Of Nihilism
Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless, and there is nothing worthy to know or communicate. It is a philosophy of no belief, no trust, and having no purpose in life.
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