Nihilism is a philosophical doctrine that influences almost all groups in the modern world (ethics, literature, humanities, arts, social and moral theories).
This doctrine suggests extreme skepticism (see also skeptic ) and pessimism in the face of permissible situations or realities. It is a line of thought that radically exalts positivist and materialist conceptions. It consists in the negation of all religious , social and political principles .
Its followers believe that there is no possibility of meaning or meaning in human existence . For them there is no way to find answers to the related questions. They defy absolute truths, conventions, norms and moral precepts.
nihilism meaning
Nihilism comes from the Latin nihil , meaning “nothing”. However, it was Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi and Jean Paul who arrived at its original meaning. Nietzsche later presented this concept as being the lack of conviction that the human being starts to have after the devaluation of his beliefs.
Nihilism conceives an attitude that criticizes the relations of social conventions. In Russia, the term ” nihilist ” was aimed at the revolutionary movement that took place during the reign of Alexander II.
The Russians practiced a nihilism more focused on the religious nature, they rejected the Divinity, the existence of the soul, the spiritual essence, precepts, ideals and absolute principles.
The Russians rejected the idea of a world inhabited by evil, wealth, and everything in the arts, religion, and metaphysics. The important thing was to use every effort to help the workers fight against oppression, preconceived ideas and superstitious illusions.
As early as the 1870s, followers of began to use more radical forms of protest, very similar to the anarchist movement. However, not all nihilists were part of revolutionary groups.
Types of Nihilism
Moral nihilism is the same as ethical nihilism . This type of nihilism believes that no action can be judged as moral or immoral.
Existential nihilism denotes that the existence of human beings has no meaning or intention, so man should not be looking for a meaning or purpose for his existence.
Political says that only with the annihilation of all political , social and religious forces, a better future would be possible.
Negative was what gave rise to all the others, it basically consists of negative thinking about the world, perceptible to the senses . It originated thanks to Platonism and Christianity.
Nietzsche and nihilism
Nietzsche had his own nihilistic perception, for him this doctrine had far more penetrating consequences. According to Nietzsche, nihilism implies the end of the Christian Divinity and its principles. Thus man says goodbye to the rules and moral values established by these doctrines.
According to Nietzsche, nihilism can be divided into two types: passive and active .
Passive can be considered as a kind of evolution of the person, even though there is no change in values .
Active , on the other hand, unites all its forces for the destruction of morals, but everything becomes empty and inconsistency begins to dominate, so that those who follow this philosophy only have as a resource to wait or cause their own death.
Passive nihilism is the one defended by Schopenhauer, in which nothing makes sense for the human being and life is a hard-fought battle.
Nietzsche’s goal is to highlight active nihilism, suggesting that man becomes more resistant when he knows that the world does not make sense.
