There have been a few people on this site who have been attacking me for being a nihilist, yet they do not understand what nihilism really is.
This is a pretty good article from wikipedia.
NIHILISM
Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following:
* Objective morality does not exist; therefore no action is preferable to any other.
* In the absence of morality, existence has no higher meaning or goal.
* There is no reasonable proof or argument for the existence of a higher ruler or creator.
* Even if there exists a higher ruler or creator, mankind has no moral obligation to worship them.
The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.
Movements such as Dada, Futurism, and deconstructionism,among others, have been identified by commentators as “nihilistic” 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 (or are simply claimed to be destructively amoralistic).
Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity and many aspects of modernity represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilistic.
Nihilism differs from skepticism in that skepticism allows for the possibility of religion, but demands empirical evidence for religious claims.[citation needed] Additionally, skepticism does not necessarily come to any conclusions about the reality of moral concepts nor does it deal so intimately with questions about the meaning of an existence without knowable truth.
Nihilism is not a very easy thing to discuss, both emotionally and physically. It is difficult emotionally because it could give thinkers a feeling of worthlessness and hopelessness, and physically because it is just plain old hard to explain. I will try to keep short and sweet. If it happens to be a bit long for you readers, please bare with me, or if not, don’t comment or judge me, for nihilism is a pretty controversial subject, especially towards religious followers. I became a nihilist after going through rougher times in my life, and began questioning the existence of god. Eventually, the same ideas and beliefs that nihilism contains entered my head, and it then made perfect sense. Here, I will try to put the beliefs into my own words, and in a way that most people can understand.
Before we begin, keep in mind that the word nihilism comes from the Greek word “nihil” meaning nothing, thus creating the word “nihilism” or the belief in nothing. This term may not make sense when you first read it, but after reading my comments you may understand what it is all about, if not, do your own research, because of how difficult it is to explain. When we mean by the belief in nothing, we mean the belief in the non-existences of morals, good, evil, God, emotion, life, etc.
I. GOD
There simply is no physical or scientific proof of a God. Also, evidence in the bible, torah, etc. explains this with their inaccuracy of subjects dealing with ethics, geographical situations, historical happenings, etc. Also the idea that hundreds, if not, thousands of Gods have been created, but have been proven wrong supports the idea God does not exist.
II. MORALS
My second topic, morals do not exist. Religious people may already be on my ass for believing this, and thinking I am evil, or a preacher of Satan, but for those who do think this, you are a colossal moron. Hear me out. Why do morals not exist? Like I my previous topic of the absence of God, what is the proof of there being morals? Most people would say God created morals, but what if there is no God? Where are morals now? Where were morals officially written before we as humans came to a rise? Who defined what was good or bad when we were trying to survive in the wild? There is none. Morals are established in our head, “brainwashed” in a stronger term to tell us what is right and wrong as a fact rather than an actual opinion, though there was nothing to tell us this many years ago before the existence of God or government. Gods and government to keep order so people can work in an organized fashion for the benefit of mankind created morals. It does work, and it is a great thing I must say, but once again, back before all of this, who would prevent someone from coming murder, or robbing someone, etc.? Where do the morals come in? Religion and government has not come into existence and put these ideas into our head yet, so is it good or bad? The answer is neither. Another example of the absence of morals is through political views. Americans find the persecution of people for different beliefs immoral, but the Middle Easterners find it right. Where are the morals coming in?
III. RELIGION / GOVERNMENT
Religion does not exist. This idea may not seem to make sense, but I will try to explain my best. How did religion start if God did not exist? Through human beings, and through a book a few humans made that would soon be realized and looked at as the “Holy Book.” If we connect the idea that there is no God to the idea of religion, how does religion exist? I will say it exists not physically, but mentally. We have established churches and places for prayer, but that is not religion itself, but establishments of religion. Religion is mental thing because we are told through books and people about it, passing down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, people seem to miss the idea that there is no difference between the bible and a bedtime story. They both are just as unlikely scientifically. But because we are told that what is in the bible is true constantly throughout our entire lives, we mentally believe in these stories, thus making religion a mental thing that people consciously believe through brainwashing. The same goes for government. Humans established government. Government is not something we can physically see, but something that exists in our minds because people who started government set up punishments for those who have done wrong in their minds.
IV. EMOTION
Emotion does not exist because we all run on chemical balances and combinations. Imbalances create sadness, anger, etc. We feel certain ways as an instinctual way to tell us what we need or want. Our mind telling us we are in danger will make us feel scared, making the chemicals in our brain imbalanced, and making us feel that particular way. So emotion does not exist in a particular way, but it DOES EXIST in an instinctual way. Our instincts make us feel certain ways to react in certain situations.
V. LIFE
This is probably the most confusing, so I put it last. We are all made of atoms and molecules, which are not living things that come together to make a “living organism.” So in a way, we are not really alive. I apologize in advance for this one for it is very hard to explain, so I will not go on for this one.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, these are my beliefs as a nihilist. I hope you are able to understand my ideas better.
Nihilism seems to be a philosophy rather then a belief (or non-belief) system. (Oh haha, that’s what it says — -I add later)
In it’s truest form it seems to imply that there is no objective morality, therefore if you yourself are a nihilist, you have no objective morality.
Is objective the key word here? Does it allow for self-objective morality? 'Cause if not then you can’t be a nihilist if you have any emotions or related thoughts about right or wrong.
It seems as though this term is more of a theory then anything that can be practiced without some differing interpretations. It’s slightly contradictory I think. But that’s the whole problem with trying to classify things like this anyway. I personally would not call myself a nihilist (I think it would be silly to do so), despite the fact that I agree with most of the underlying position it takes.
treeplanter wrote:
Nihilism seems to be a philosophy rather then a belief (or non-belief) system. (Oh haha, that’s what it says — -I add later)
In it’s truest form it seems to imply that there is no objective morality, therefore if you yourself are a nihilist, you have no objective morality.
Is objective the key word here? Does it allow for self-objective morality? 'Cause if not then you can’t be a nihilist if you have any emotions or related thoughts about right or wrong.
It seems as though this term is more of a theory then anything that can be practiced without some differing interpretations. It’s slightly contradictory I think. But that’s the whole problem with trying to classify things like this anyway. I personally would not call myself a nihilist (I think it would be silly to do so), despite the fact that I agree with most of the underlying position it takes.
What we mean by there are no morals is that what is right or wrong differs from one person to the other. For example, Americans find it wrong to persecute people who do not have the same beliefs as them, but people in the Middle East do. We pretty much belief Government or religion set up morals for us, so we are used to living by those morals.
Some nihilists like myself believe emotion to be just instinctual chemical reactions to help us thing more about the situation, therefor helping us “survive” pretty much one of the main points of nihilism is survival of the fitest.
Overall, nihilism is extremely hard to explain, it is very very complex.
What we mean by there are no morals is that what is right or wrong differs from one person to the other. For example, Americans find it wrong to persecute people who do not have the same beliefs as them, but people in the Middle East do. We pretty much belief Government or religion set up morals for us, so we are used to living by those morals.
Some nihilists like myself believe emotion to be just instinctual chemical reactions to help us thing more about the situation, therefor helping us “survive” pretty much one of the main points of nihilism is survival of the fitest.
Overall, nihilism is extremely hard to explain, it is very very complex.
Ya, I get it (not all the complexities). It has to do with universal truth. I just don’t think it’s a practical theory without some interpretation. You know what I mean? So to be a nihilist you still have to make some assumptions or let certain contradictions go. Any theory that deals with the idea of nothingnessness and no truths and stuff like that runs into similar problems. aka “no-truths” is a truth. I dunno. I’m not up on my philosophy
I’m not arguing anything, just thinking it through. Like I said previously, I don’t think classifying yourself or other people into philosophies works, since in the end your a mix of a bunch of different things anyway, which doesn’t really have a name other then the one your parents gave you.
But that’s just my postmodernism talking...haha.
petrofsky wrote:
There have been a few people on this site who have been attacking me for being a nihilist, yet they do not understand what nihilism really is. This is a pretty good article from wikipedia.
NIHILISM
Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following:
* Objective morality does not exist; therefore no action is preferable to any other.
* In the absence of morality, existence has no higher meaning or goal.
* There is no reasonable proof or argument for the existence of a higher ruler or creator.
* Even if there exists a higher ruler or creator, mankind has no moral obligation to worship them.
The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.
Movements such as Dada, Futurism, and deconstructionism,among others, have been identified by commentators as “nihilistic” 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 (or are simply claimed to be destructively amoralistic).
Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity and many aspects of modernity represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilistic.
Nihilism differs from skepticism in that skepticism allows for the possibility of religion, but demands empirical evidence for religious claims.[citation needed] Additionally, skepticism does not necessarily come to any conclusions about the reality of moral concepts nor does it deal so intimately with questions about the meaning of an existence without knowable truth.
Well I don’t believe that just because there aren’t any established morals, we can just do whatever we want and pay no attention to others that are affected by our actions.
petrofsky wrote:
There have been a few people on this site who have been attacking me for being a nihilist, yet they do not understand what nihilism really is. This is a pretty good article from wikipedia.
NIHILISM
Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following:
* Objective morality does not exist; therefore no action is preferable to any other.
* In the absence of morality, existence has no higher meaning or goal.
* There is no reasonable proof or argument for the existence of a higher ruler or creator.
* Even if there exists a higher ruler or creator, mankind has no moral obligation to worship them.
The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.
Movements such as Dada, Futurism, and deconstructionism,among others, have been identified by commentators as “nihilistic” 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 (or are simply claimed to be destructively amoralistic).
Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity and many aspects of modernity represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilistic.
Nihilism differs from skepticism in that skepticism allows for the possibility of religion, but demands empirical evidence for religious claims.[citation needed] Additionally, skepticism does not necessarily come to any conclusions about the reality of moral concepts nor does it deal so intimately with questions about the meaning of an existence without knowable truth.
Well I don’t believe that just because there aren’t any established morals, we can just do whatever we want and pay no attention to others that are affected by our actions.
agnostic/atheist/deist/Nihilism mines really starting to build up..
--- Theory does not mean an unsubstantiated guess or hunch, as it can in everyday speech. A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of a related set of natural or social phenomena.
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