SUTINGCO, BENJITO DOMINICO M.

1st Year College – SVD

Introduction to Philosophy

PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINE: NIHILISM

(Summary)

Etymologically speaking, the term “nihilism” originates from the Latin word “nihil”
which primarily means “nothing”. Nihilism, then, is the belief in the “nothingness” of
everything. To elaborate, nihilism, as a philosophical doctrine, focuses on human existence
having no purpose at all. This philosophy revolves around the conception of the rejection of
objective truth and moral values and principles that actually correspond with the meaning of life.
What makes this philosophy unique is that it asserts the ultimate purposelessness of life in which
it condemns existence. Furthermore, the main viewpoint of this doctrine is to see life as a
pointless journey. All things, as this principle holds, pass by this world has no meaning in its
very existence up until its tail end. In fact, this philosophy firmly concludes that life is nothing
but a meaningless, purposeless, and aimless journey to live.

From a nihilist perspective, whatever an individual does in one’s life is absurd and
pointless. Such as everything that a human holds – ethical rules, moral principles, emotional
feelings, cultural traditions, and the like – is in line with senseless and empty meaning. The
reason why these nihilists perceive the world in this way is because, they believe, everything
about existence is undiscovered. As a matter of fact, they don’t believe in the afterlife either
because they think death is the end of consciousness and personal identity.

(Philosophers)

One of the popular proponents of nihilism is the German philosopher Friedrich

Nietzsche. In the field of philosophy, he is considered to be the “Father of Nihilism” for his
philosophical contributions and arguments about the effects of eventually destroying all moral,
religious, and other convictions of this world. As a nihilist, he believed that there really is no
objective order or structure in the world except that we, humans, create it. In addition, Helmut
Thielicke, another nihilist, asserted that “nihilism literally has only one truth to declare:
nothingness prevails and the world is meaningless”. Closely related to his principle is the idea of
David Matheson who claimed that “no lives are, all things considered, worth living”. Ever since
this philosophy started in the late 1800s, many nihilists supported and promoted it, and up until
now, many nihilistic approaches are present in the world. Hence, all the mentioned arguments of
these philosophers show a reasonable and convincing claim to eventually influence those people
who are experiencing such a perspective.
(Reflection)

Upon having a profound analysis of this philosophical doctrine, I certainly believe that
this concept, indeed, somehow persuades the minds of most individuals that tend them to lose the
value of their lives. For whatever motivates nihilism, that is, the feeling that life has no meaning
or purpose. We all know that every individual seeks to find meaning and purpose in life in
accordance with their curiosity for having it. They strive to seek this and, somehow, to value
survival in order to meet this. Undeniably, the human being is driven by many needs such as
survival needs like shelter, food, water, and the like, safety needs like family and community, as
well as love and belongingness. All these things determine that we are also heavily driven by
purpose. On the other hand, as nihilism is the denial that life has any purpose, it is noticeable that
nihilism denies our humanity. Such a concept deprives us of striving and thriving for these needs
in a way that we avoid the consequences of disregarding them. Perhaps, we as humans, need to
work hard at understanding it intimately. To relate this philosophy to the modern world, many
people have come to the point in their lives that “life really has no meaning at all” – in which
they might have experienced something that regresses them to look forward to the positivities in
life. For instance, sudden emotional damage can greatly influence and poison the mind and
motivations of a person to be hopeful in life. Unfortunately, people who have this perspective,
after some time, can be the greatest factor causing them to be depressed and commit suicide.
Others may have questioned the essence of moral principles and religious beliefs for having been
agnostics for most times, or in some cases, being doubtful of God’s existence. Hence, I certainly
think that a deeper understanding of nihilism is very important and that it will help us to
understand how such a philosophy has managed to take as much of a hold on society as it is now
doing, and, for God’s will, help us to understand how to overcome it. As many people say, “Life
is a mystery”, and so does God. This mystery, in its very essence, is continuous in terms of
discovering it on a daily basis. It does not stop from discovering the mystery, perhaps, the quest
for mystery is an endless journey that along the way, our question will inherit certain answers.
The way we seek the meaning of life corresponds to the way we search for God. Our aim,
regardless of whether we are in a religion or the other way around, is to find our unique purpose
in life. We, humans, exist for a purpose and it is not just a mere incident that we were raised in
this world without it. Therefore, it is up to us to create meaning in our lives through our own
freedom of choice – which is willingly entrusted to us by God.

References:
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-nihilism-5271083
https://sapienceinstitute.org/nihilism-as-a-poison-part-1-the-death-of-meaning/#:~:text=Whateve
r%20motivates%20nihilism%2C%20that%20is,express%20their%20suffering%20from%20it.
https://medium.com/bottomline-conversations/nihilism-in-the-modern-world-why-and-how-to-li
ve-a-nihilist-lifestyle-b6feefa1a63