nihilism

jman0

I found somewhere a definition of nihilism that read:
Nihilism, in fact, can be understood in several different ways. Political Nihilism, as noted, is associated with the belief that the destruction of all existing political, social, and religious order is a prerequisite for any future improvement. Ethical nihilism or moral nihilism rejects the possibility of absolute moral or ethical values. Instead, good and evil are nebulous, and values addressing such are the product of nothing more than social and emotive pressures. Existential nihilism is the notion that life has no intrinsic meaning or value, and it is, no doubt, the most commonly used and understood sense of the word today.
I wrote it down at the time because i just felt that it summarised my beliefs.
I've never studied philosophy.
If I were to pursue my understanding of Nihilism, can anybody recommend any books? Maybe i should read some Nietzsche but to be honest, some books make boring reading and i'd like to find something that is interesting and illuminating, and at my level.

Goodshape

The Wikipedia entry on Nihilism may be of interest to you. It explains a fair few things and also has a list of external links and books on the subject at the bottom.

Dr.Feelgood

Nihilists- Believe in Nothing!!


They are not necessarily wrong nor can i say they are right!!!

I like their stance on politics

DadaKopf

Who's Niall?

Dades

jman0 wrote:

I wrote it down at the time because i just felt that it summarised my beliefs.

Uh, which branch summarised your beliefs?

And don't forget The Big Lebowski.

Talliesin

Dr.Feelgood wrote:

Nihilists- Believe in Nothing!!

I lost my faith in Nihilism.

Dr.Feelgood

So now you have something???

Or now you have faith in less than nothing?

jman0

The Atheist wrote:

Uh, which branch summarised your beliefs?

And don't forget The Big Lebowski.

From my first post: political, ethical, and particularly existensial.

Neuro

Has anybody ever met someone older than 20 who seriously considered theselves to be nihilists?

Goodshape

yes - but I didn't believe them.

Dades

Neuro wrote:

Has anybody ever met someone older than 20 who seriously considered theselves to be nihilists?

Well I believe that "life has no intrinsic meaning or value", and I'm over 20.

Does that make me a nihilist?

Ozzy

DadaKopf wrote:

Who's Niall?

Its pronounced Neye-hill-iz-um?
I don't believe this! There's me going around saying nih-hil-is-em... Boy do i feel stupid!

Feownah

Nihilism, in fact, can be understood in several different ways. Political Nihilism, as noted, is associated with the belief that the destruction of all existing political, social, and religious order is a prerequisite for any future improvement. Ethical nihilism or moral nihilism rejects the possibility of absolute moral or ethical values. Instead, good and evil are nebulous, and values addressing such are the product of nothing more than social and emotive pressures. Existential nihilism is the notion that life has no intrinsic meaning or value, and it is, no doubt, the most commonly used and understood sense of the word today.
I wrote it down at the time because i just felt that it summarised my beliefs.

And there was me thinking it was a word for pleasure seekers who were low on morals, if that was the case most over 20's would consider themselves nihilistic, but obviously my definition needs revision.

DadaKopf

Ozzy wrote:

Its pronounced Neye-hill-iz-um?
I don't believe this! There's me going around saying nih-hil-is-em... Boy do i feel stupid!

Ah no, I pronounce it "NIH-HIL-ISM".

I'm off to Vienna in two weeks. Looking forward to have a coffee in Café Nihilismus.

kasintahan

Feownah wrote:

And there was me thinking it was a word for pleasure seekers who were low on morals, if that was the case most over 20's would consider themselves nihilistic, but obviously my definition needs revision.

That's hedonism.

see here
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hedonism
, or, better still, here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism