Unravel the misconceptions surrounding nihilism. Venture beyond the common perception of it as a doctrine of despair and nothingness. Discover a more nuanced understanding of this philosophical concept, challenging preconceived notions and shedding light on what nihilism truly isn't.
In order to preserve nihilism as a meaningful concept, it’s necessary to distinguish it from pessimism, cynicism, and apathy.
Nihilism is one of those concepts that we are all pretty sure we know the meaning of unless someone asks us to define it
- It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking “Everything is nihilism!” which of course leads to thinking “Nothing is nihilist!”
Nihilism versus Apathy
Along with pessimism and cynicism, nihilism is also frequently associated with apathy.
- To be apathetic is to be seen as not caring about anything
- Apathy can be an attitude (“I don’t care about that”) or a character trait
- In either case, the apathetic individual is expressing a personal feeling and is not making a claim about how everyone should feel
- The morality of pity holds that it is good to feel pity for those who are in need, and it is especially good to be moved by pity to help
- Consequently, we need to see ourselves in need insofar as we are privileged to be able to see how we have been able to evade morality by not having to think about others
- Not caring is not the same thing as caring about nothing
- Nihilists can have sympathy, empathy, and antipathy, but they cannot have apathy
Nihilism versus Pessimism
If optimism is hopefulness, then pessimism is hopelessness
- To be a pessimist is to say, “What’s the point?”
- pessimism could be seen as arising from despair
- The fact of our death, the frustration of our desires, the unintended consequences of our actions, the tweets of our political leaders, any or all of these could lead us to either nihilism or pessimism.
- However, where these two roads diverge is over the question of whether we dwell on our despair or hide from it
Nihilism versus Cynicism
In Ancient Greece, a Cynic was someone who lived by the Cynic philosophy of staying true to nature rather than conforming to what that person saw as social artifice
- Today, a cynic is someone who looks down on society and sees it as fake
- To be cynical is to assume the worst of people, to think that morality is mere pretense, and to suppose that even when people seem to be helping others they are really only trying to help themselves
- Believing in only self-interest, the cynic appears to others to believe in nothing
- Cynicism, like pessimism, is about negativity
- A cynic can take pleasure in mocking those who claim that altruism exists, or that politicians are self-sacrificing public servants
- The cynic reveals the nihilism of others by challenging people to defend their lack of cynicism
