Nihilism is one of those philosophical beliefs that most students will end up believing in temporarily at some point or the other – like when one has an exam to study for, or a deadline to meet. (If you haven’t done so till now, good. Stay away, it’s not fun.) It refers to the philosophical standpoint that no values or attachments in life matter at all, and that ideas and thoughts cannot actually be communicated or known. Or, to put it bluntly, nothing we do or believe matters in the long run because we’re all gonna die anyway.
Cheery much?
The term “Nihilism” was first used by Friedrich Jacobi in order to criticize Kant’s notion of Transcendental Idealism (which is the idea that human experience of things is subjective and not absolute), and later popularized after its use in Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons. However, it finds its forerunners in Buddhism and the Skeptic tradition of the ancient Greeks as well. Today, the term is most commonly associated with the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, who posited that there is no structure to the world except that which humans make of it. According to Nietzsche, nihilism is a key feature of the modern age, and it is characterized by the knowledge that all values are baseless and reason is helpless in the face of meaninglessness. It is not enough to merely recognize that truth and values mean nothing, however – it would require active participation in the destruction of these characteristics as well. The popularization of the term also led to the formation of the Russian political movement of the same name that sought to reject all forms of authority in the early 1900s.
The Atheistic Existentialist movement of the 20th century brought the concept of existential nihilism to the forefront of public discourse. Existential nihilism posits that life in itself has no meaning or value as is, and that humans are ultimately insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Jean-Paul Sartre’s maxim, “existence precedes essence” sums this up succinctly, in that the fact that something or someone exists (existence) takes precedence over the purpose they serve (essence). In other words, humans choose to engage in activity, and this course of action is not predetermined for them.
Nihilism has significantly coloured the values, traditions, and ideals of the 20th century and beyond. Art movements such as Dadaism and Situationism have openly embraced the hopelessness of the tradition, and movies such as Fight Club and The Big Lebowski show unmistakable traces of its influence. Is nihilism here to stay, then? Nietzsche would say not quite – albeit at a price. He believed that if humans managed to survive the process of the destruction of all interpretations of the world, it would be possible for us to discover the true meaning and path on which humankind was to travel. We can only hope this happens as soon as possible. Or not. We shall see.
References:
https://www.iep.utm.edu/nihilism/
http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Nihilist
Article by Abhirami G
Artwork by Namrata Nirmal
Article 19 