Nihilism?

[AnnonyBox]

I'm an existential nihilist, I don't see any inherent value or meaning in life, and despite what others think, any created meaning is just an illusion, a facade so that people can feel good about themselves. I see no value or redeeming qualities in the human race, given the propensity of people to act in a cruel manner towards the less fortunate, greedily towards wealth, and egotistically towards their peers. I must wonder how many people here share my views?

 

[Sonnenblume]

You sound more pessimistic than nihilistic. A nihilist wouldn't have a negative view of humans. There is no "cruelty" according to nihilists.

 

[Fylobatica]

Nihilist here as well. The concept of purpose, quite eerily, doesn't have any inherent or absolute meaning. It's all about how you jump from one task to another hoping to enjoy it

 

[thatguyakira123]

Oh i agree, I think the human race should be nuked leaving animals to roam the earth.

 

[Dead Girl Don't Care]

You sound more pessimistic than nihilistic. A nihilist wouldn't have a negative view of humans. There is no "cruelty" according to nihilists.

Yes, along with acknowledging that nothing matters at all we can conclude that there is no morality or at least no absolute Right nor absolute Wrong.

That said humans are garbage and the world--no matter how absurd or meaningless it is in the end--would benefit greatly--for the moment--from our withdrawal. OP might be sympathetic to antinatalism--though the philosophy does argue the Good and the Bad, whereas I firmly believe its all a construct veiled over an overtly absurd everything.

 

[Sonnenblume]

Yes, along with acknowledging that nothing matters at all we can conclude that there is no morality or at least no absolute Right nor absolute Wrong.

That said humans are garbage and the world--no matter how absurd or meaningless it is in the end--would benefit greatly--for the moment--from our withdrawal. OP might be sympathetic to antinatalism--though the philosophy does argue the Good and the Bad, whereas I firmly believe its all a construct veiled over an overtly absurd everything.

That is not consistent with no value. I am not a nihilist, btw. There can be no "absurd" if nihilism were accurate, absurdity is a value judgement.

 

[Dead Girl Don't Care]

That is not consistent with no value. I am not a nihilist, btw. There can be no "absurd" if nihilism were accurate, absurdity is a value judgement.

You are correct, and while I claim to be a nihilist, I am not so dedicated to the philosophy that my bias doesn't come out, in fact I'm sure I act contrary to the tenants of nihilism on a near daily basis.

Like I alluded to earlier, you can't be both a complete nihilist and a complete antinatalist, but I am enough of a mix of the two, or maybe I'm an absurdist with a penchant for suicide. I am me, whatever fucked up amalgamation that turns out to be.

 

[Sonnenblume]

You are correct, and while I claim to be a nihilist, I am not so dedicated to the philosophy that my bias doesn't come out, in fact I'm sure I act contrary to the tenants of nihilism on a near daily basis.

Like I alluded to earlier, you can't be both a complete nihilist and a complete antinatalist, but I am enough of a mix of the two, or maybe I'm an absurdist with a penchant for suicide. I am me, whatever fucked up amalgamation that turns out to be.

Nihilism makes no logical sense to me. A kid being beaten to death is different than a kid eating a burger at McDonald's. One is in a positive state and one a very negative state. I'd identify as antinatalist except most of em are nutjobs. So, instead, I just say I'm against all breeding.

 

[MAIO]

Nihilism makes no logical sense to me. A kid being beaten to death is different than a kid eating a burger at McDonald's. One is in a positive state and one a very negative state. I'd identify as antinatalist except most of em are nutjobs. So, instead, I just say I'm against all breeding.

Free will clearly does not exist/ If consciousness itself is an illusion, it's hard to argue against nihilism.

 

[Sonnenblume]

Free will clearly does not exist/ If consciousness itself is an illusion, it's hard to argue against nihilism.

Correct, free will does not exist. Nihilism has nothing to do with free will, they are not mutually exclusive. That we don't have free will is irrelevant to the fact that sentient beings experience positive and negative states.

 

[Fylobatica]

A kid being beaten to death is different than a kid eating a burger at McDonald's.

Of course, but this isn't what nihilism is about. Being a nihilist does not equal being a violent person -- and it has nothing to do with somebody's lifestyle.

 

[Sonnenblume]

Of course, but this isn't what nihilism is about. Being a nihilist does not equal being a violent person -- and it has nothing to do with somebody's lifestyle.

That wasn't my point at all. My point is different mental states have different value, some are positive and some are negative. Lack of free will does not erase these differences.

 

[Fylobatica]

Yep. That's because our brain is hard-wired for survival (or at least the search for a more comfortable mental state, which is kind of the same thing). Sometimes this search contemplates self-destructive behaviors.

 

[Sonnenblume]

Correct :)

 

[millefeui]

I seem to have become some sort of "soft" misanthrope with time (and I only realized after people pointed it out), but I am not nihilist. There is value in life, just not in mine. Who am I to decide whether or not other people's lives have value or not?

 

[Fylobatica]

Who am I to decide whether or not other people's lives have value or not?

It's not about "our" lives, rather the concept of existence itself.

 

[millefeui]

It's not about "our" lives, rather the concept of existence itself.

Doesn't make any difference to me. I will rephrase it if makes it better for you: Who I am to decide whether or not the concept of life is meaningful? I am only one random useless person in a sea of far, far too many people. My opinion is just an opinion.

 

[Fylobatica]

Doesn't make any difference to me.

There's a lot of difference between enjoying your life and finding something that looks motivating to you, and the actual existence of absolute meaning.

Meaning itself, as previously stated, is a fallacious concept.

 

[CoolGuy9]

I'm an existential nihilist, I don't see any inherent value or meaning in life, and despite what others think, any created meaning is just an illusion, a facade so that people can feel good about themselves. I see no value or redeeming qualities in the human race, given the propensity of people to act in a cruel manner towards the less fortunate, greedily towards wealth, and egotistically towards their peers. I must wonder how many people here share my views?

Saying that any created meaning is just an illusion and a facade so people can feel good about themselves is in my opinion kind of a bad way to put it. If someone finds some personal meaning in live then to them that something has inherit value and they should keep doing it. At that point it doesn't matter if live doesn't have any inherit meaning, because why would it? If I can be happy and make the world a better place then nihilism isn't a problem.

I would also say that humans do have redeeming qualities. Sure, everyone has done something evil, but everyone has done something good, and I would say that it gives atleast a bit of value to the human race.