the.com/nihilism
the philosophy that nothing matters, argued with suspicious passion by people who clearly care a lot
means The belief that life, morality, and existence have no inherent meaning, value, or purpose.
from From Latin 'nihil,' meaning 'nothing,' which gives us a small family of negations — 'annihilate' (to reduce to nothing), 'nil,' even the gambling cry 'nihilist' of total loss. The '-ism' was bolted on to make a doctrine of it. The word gained its philosophical weight in 19th-century Russia, where it was popularized by Turgenev's 1862 novel 'Fathers and Sons' to describe a generation that rejected all received authority, faith, and tradition — though the term had drifted around European thought before that.
- origin word
- From Latin nihil, meaning nothing at all
- turgenev
- Popularized the term in his 1862 novel
- nietzsche's warning
- Called it the uncanniest guest at Europe's door
- self-defeating
- Claiming nothing is true is itself a truth claim
- russian roots
- Inspired actual revolutionaries, not just gloomy teenagers
friedrich nietzsche — german philosopher who critiqued nihilism in 'beyond good and evil' (1886) while exploring its implications
russian nihilism movement — 19th century russian intellectual movement rejecting traditional values, depicted in turgenev's 'fathers and sons' (1862)
camus absurdism response — albert camus developed his philosophy in 'the myth of sisyphus' (1942) as a counter to nihilism