Nihilism

Just curious as to everyone's thoughts regarding nihilism...the lack of inherent meaning in life, the absence of a universal ethical standard, the void of purposelessness, the notion that meaningless lives end in nothingness...just curious. Any ideas?

It doesn't really fit into my worldview as meaningful.... :pinch:

So perhaps I have a nihilistic view on nihilism.

ni·hil·ism
n.
1. Philosophy
a. An extreme form of skepticism that denies all existence.
b. A doctrine holding that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated.
2. Rejection of all distinctions in moral or religious value and a willingness to repudiate all previous theories of morality or religious belief.
3. The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.

Just one definition of course, but I'd say that position is indefensible.

1. a. To say what we experience isn't real seems, to me, a misunderstanding of the concept of existence. I participate in this system, whatever this system is (even if that's a fabrication, a dream, a lie) - that is, I exist as a feature of the universe we find ourselves in. So denial of existence is essentially meaningless.
1. b. I have learned many things, had many things communicated to me, and I believe in a variety of values. The values of this temple, for example. The value that life is worth preserving, cruelty worth stopping, happiness worth increasing. None of those things seem baseless.

2. I am not willing to reject or repudiate all former moralities. To me this implies a rejection of all human understanding other than nihilism, which seems both a little silly and very arrogant. "No-one has anything to teach me; only what I know is true" sort of thinking. Also if I believed this, why would I not also reject nihilism?

3. This I have a little more sympathy with, who of us hasn't been frustrated by certain features of any institution or societal/political structure at one point or another. The complete abolition of everything does seem a rather ludicrously extreme step - where does it end? Do we reject our language because of the structure it implies? Do we give up on medicine because it's a product of "the system"? Do we stop living in houses and driving cars, stop wearing clothes and making fire etc... it just isn't a workable worldview in any meaningful sense.

Also

Not really knowing the word, I decided to research. The concept, as written about by various people at various times with slightly different nuances, has another aspect which is not included in the OP.

The common thread about nihilism is that “life itself” does not have any inherent meaning or purpose, but regardless of the form of nihilism that I looked at, the writers also say that the meaning is given by us.

The reviews about the writers say that this view causes man depression or freedom. There is far more written on the former effect than on the latter.

From what I know about nihilism in the philosophical sense, it appears as actually a rather convenient position. In the form of extreme skepticism and rejection of values, it offers the nihilist to stay neutral in virtually every debate she has no opinion to add to, while at the same time understanding and being able to illustrate every other position.
For that reason it is incredibly practical, but it is also ultimately dishonest and cowardly in that there is no way to defend anything by it alone (and remain genuine, that is) and defending something by borrowing from a different philosophy one can always retreat to the I-don't-believe-it-myself-anyway cop-out and avoid every criticism and counter-argument.
So yea, its about as uninteresting of a position one can take, eventhough as such it may have advantages to certain types of personalities.

Dude, check this out:
the paradox of nihilism is that the absence of meaning seems to be some sort of meaning...

or the paradox of nihilism is the choice to continue one's own life while at the same time stating that it is not worth more than any other life

oohhhh yes. . . . abract thinkings can be most annoying to concrete thinkings . .
just my opinion, by the way . . .

oh Gisteron I saw a chess set yesterday. The board was inlay with mother of pearl and the pieces were marble. I wanted to give it to you.