Why Is Nihilism Bad?

[userwhoquitthesite]

Well, the nihilistic philosophy can lead to belief that nothing matters in life, except personal enjoyment, which would mean that giving to charity, helping others, and generally performing any act that isn't inherently selfish, would be a waste of effort. The darker side of nihilism is basically Nietsche's "ubermench" or superman. A man who has released himself from all shackles of society and culture, and common decency, to soley devote himself to himself. Doing what he wants, when he wants to do it, and never thinking "how will my actions affect other people", because it doesn't matter.

Also, fun fact: Shelob from Lord of The Rings was essentially a nihilist (well, from the books, the movies didn't look at her character at all) and she is actually probably the most powerful being in all Middle Earth, because of her Nihilistic hatred for it all.

Shelob is a nihilist? how on earth do you arrive at that conclusion?

 

[Kintobor92]

I too, am pretty much nihilist. People don't like it because it sounds depressing and because they think nihilists become sociopaths. The former is understandable, but isn't really saying anything other than 'ew'. Well, it can be meant to say that since it's depressing, it will make nihilists depressed, and they don't like that. Somebody famous (might've been Carl Sagan) has some quote responding to a religious person asking him whether being atheist doesn't kill the mystery and wonder to life. He says either that it does nothing to hamper his sense of wonder or that it actually magnifies it, because reality is more interesting and engaging when we believe there is some intricate framework behind all of it and we can make our modest attempts at unraveling it.

The idea that nihilists turn into sociopaths is pretty absurd. I'm willing to bet that some nihilists would even take offense at it. Sure, it's gonna corrupt a few people, but not many. Nihilists are people. They have feelings, they care about things. They just believe that their cares are of no objective meaning. Even though I don't think Bill Hicks is a nihilist, I'm gonna make reference to his "Life is just a ride" bit anyway. It's a great example of someone making the argument that, while life doesn't really matter, that doesn't make life any more depressing, and in fact can make it a lot less stressful. It's just the "this too, shall pass" attitude, really. Sure, some people will use the mentality to be bad, but isn't that really a product of their character/tendencies?

The reason academia doesn't talk about nihilism-in addition to the fact that people dislike it-is probably that, well, nihilism is the end of the line. There's really nothing to debate besides its basic principles and no way in which it could change or grow.

I'm a nihilist and I'm kind, emotional, and have a sense of wonder that can sometimes just be plain overwhelming. I realize that some can do bad in the name of nihilism, and I'm fine with that. Nihilism is the most defensible system of belief in my opinion. Besides, what's the difference between someone who commits bad actions under the nihilist banner and one who acknowledges no belief system and commits bad actions by just saying "Whatever. I do what I want"?

 

[Kintobor92]

Also, a question to non-nihilists: Why do you believe in any kind of objective worth or truths? I see no more reason to believe in these things other than that we like to believe in them. Kinda like how people like to believe in gods or the soul. I just don't get it.

 

[Angryman101]

I find those who believe in nihilism to be stuck in a repeating cycle of a grim existence in which their potential is wasted.

funny I can say the same thing about every religion and other belief system

As could Nietzsche.

 

[Colour Scientist]

From what I gather, nihilism and post-modernism have similar negative connotations about them.

I'm more acquainted with post-modernism in relation to history than I am with philosophy so I'll try to see it from that aspect. Post-modernism, generally, argues that there is no truth and that the closer we try to move to the truth the further away from it we become as we have to look through interpretations of interpretations to find it.

While some of their ideas certainly make sense, if you continue to look through the prism of post-modernism, everything is chaos. Which fundamentally disagrees with what most people want to see or believe.

Nihilism would seem to ultimately lead to that kind of chaos, which is why I presume people have a negative view of it. I really don't have an in depth knowledge of it though.

Personally, I don't like it because the only people I've met who claim to be nihilists are wanky teenagers who are going through a phase of hating their parents. Not saying you are, it's just why I tend to cringe when someone uses the term to describe their outlook.

 

[Darth_Dude]

This thread is of no value or purpose and this post doesn't matter.

And by extension, nothing else matters. Right?

So why don't you go kill yourself? (If nothing matters)

 

[Deadyawn]

I only know one guy who claims to be "nihilist" but all that means to him is that he can refute any of your arguments by saying logic doesn't exist...he's basically just a massive troll. And really annoying.

 

[Deadyawn]

while life doesn't really matter, that doesn't make life any more depressing, and in fact can make it a lot less stressful. It's just the "this too, shall pass" attitude, really.

Huh. That sounds like exactly what I think.
Guess I'm a nihilist then.

 

[Phisi]

Your title has confused me, being a nihilist

 

[Feylynn]

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

True nihilism is represented by those nutcase villains that think to themselves "The only way to stop all suffering in the world is by ENDING the world. NOTHING is the greatest form of justice because it is pure and above vile life which is so full of contradictions and false motives."

"'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."

Perhaps this is a near comic extreme of true nihilism rather than what it generally represents, I'm not well versed in its history and apologize if I'm mistaken.

 

[DoPo]

This thread is of no value or purpose and this post doesn't matter.

And by extension, nothing else matters. Right?

So why don't you go kill yourself? (If nothing matters)

Because there would be no point in that. Nothing has a point, no real value, no consequences that matter no sense at all. I could cook food for the homeless or kill them - it's exactly the same according to nihilism. Because both actions have zero meaning above what people assign to them. And people's opinions are exactly as meaningless as the actions themselves. In fact, they are even less (if that is possible) because opinions were never real - they don't exist outside one's mind. A rock has more of a value than your or my opinion because the rock exists, the opinions can be nothing but illusion. Morals are just opinions, so they don't matter either. Laws, rules are just as worthless.

That is nihilism. I hope you get where I'm going. Nihilism isn't (necessarily) utter depression that makes you want to end your own life. The knowledge that nothing is of value may cause you to test that. Also, to annoy the hell of everybody you speak off because you'll sound like a complete douchebag.

 

[AgentNein]

As I understand it nihilism is the belief that nothing has any intrinsic value, there is no such thing as objective morality, and that objective knowledge is impossible to obtain. To me this has always seemed mostly reasonable and agreeable, and I would describe myself as a nihilist on at least those first two counts. Yet I often hear people talk about nihilism as if it's negative or pointless, similar to how people react to solipsism. Why exactly is this? I don't see anything about nihilism, at least on these three core assertions, that would lead people to treat the position with such disdain, apart from a purely emotional reaction someone might have because of the perceivably cold nature of said claims. But that is obviously not solid grounds for rejecting a philosophical position. So what else is there that makes people think it's bad?

as I understand it, the first thing you described is better defined as absurdism or rather existentialism.

Nihilism is the whole that one might fall in when venturing into existentialism. That rut of "there is no intrinsic value or meaning to anything, so there is no value or meaning period, so fuck it".

Existentialists tend to say that at least we can bring our own personal, invented meanings and values to the world, even though they don't exist universally. Nihilists don't. At least is my personal understanding, anyone feel free to correct me.

 

[Scrustle]

as I understand it, the first thing you described is better defined as absurdism or rather existentialism.

Nihilism is the whole that one might fall in when venturing into existentialism. That rut of "there is no intrinsic value or meaning to anything, so there is no value or meaning period, so fuck it".

Existentialists tend to say that at least we can bring our own personal, invented meanings and values to the world, even though they don't exist universally. Nihilists don't. At least is my personal understanding, anyone feel free to correct me.

From what everyone else on this thread has said and the extra reading I've done it seems you're right on the money.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I love how everybody here who does actually understand nihilism dislikes it, and everybody claiming to be a nihilist seems to be more along the lines of one of the answers to nihilism late 19th and early 20th century philosophers came up with because they hated absolute or true nihilism.

After thinking about the question a little more, I think I personally dislike nihilism because when it comes to philosophical discussion, they bring nothing other than nay saying to the table. They are those with a philosophical mind but not enough will to engage it, and having said mind they begin asking questions of meaning and purpose, but having less will they simply look at the inadequacies of the answers given to them and declare the questions unanswerable. Until they decide that the questions can be answered, they do not have anything to add to a discussion other than pointing out the flaws in an argument. If they can add to the argument in another way, they aren't a nihilist.

So ask yourself this, do you believe there is any kind of purpose to your life, any kind of meaning? By this I mean literally any meaning, subjective or objective. If you do then you are not a nihilist, you're something else, go figure out what it is.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

This thread is of no value or purpose and this post doesn't matter.

And by extension, nothing else matters. Right?

So why don't you go kill yourself? (If nothing matters)

Because not killing yourself is a lot easier.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well for one thing, if you ever become a millionaire and also a supervillain than your view may destory the entire universe!

 

[Toshiooh]

there is nothing intrinsically bad with nihilism it's just the way people analyse it. saying that nothing has any real value is a terrifying truth that most people cannot face.

personally i would say i'm a existentialist and say i put value in things to the point i want. value is in the eye of the thinker, or something like that

 

[RatRace123]

Because people often use it to act like superior, humanity hating, dicks.
I don't have a problem with the ideas of Nihilism, and on some level I agree with them, but what I hate about it is when people use it as an excuse to justify their sociopathic desires to see the whole of humanity murdered.

 

[Rainforce]

The problem is that it's too true - the second we fully comprehend and face the meaninglessness of everything is the second we can just drop dead. And we don't want that. ^^
we are simply not made to comprehend something like that.
So denial and survival it is.

Abandoning religion causes nihilism, but the strong work past nihilism and forge their own meaning in existence. This is the philosophy I personally subscribe to, and I find those who believe in nihilism to be stuck in a repeating cycle of a grim existence in which their potential is wasted.

also this, even though it's from another perspective.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

A whole lot of the people who identify as nihilists tend to be depressive fuckwads who do nothing but mope or yell at others about how meaningless existence is. Believe me, I've been there. As with most things, though, it can go well with other philosophies and complement them. I believe things have no value except what we assign to them, but I'll also identify as a idealist who aims to better the world.