The term nihilism is sometimes used in association with anomie (a lack of social norms; "normlessness". It describes the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and their community, if under unruly scenarios possibly resulting in fragmentation of social identity and rejection of self-regulatory values) to explain the general mood of despair at a perceived pointlessness of existence that one may develop upon realising there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws.
Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity and many aspects of modernity represent a rejection of theism, and that rejection of their theistic doctrine entails nihilism.
Existential nihilism
is the
philosophical
theory that life has no intrinsic meaning or value. With respect to
the universe, existential nihilism posits that a single human or even the
entire human species is insignificant, without purpose and unlikely to change
in the totality of existence. According to the theory, each individual is an
isolated being "thrown" into the universe, barred from knowing
"why", yet compelled to invent meaning. The inherent meaninglessness of life is
largely explored in the philosophical school of existentialism,
where one can potentially create his or her own subjective "meaning"
or "purpose". Of all types of nihilism,
existential nihilism gets the most literary and philosophical attention.
Postmodernism
Postmodern and poststructuralist thought question the very grounds on which Western cultures have based their “truths”: absolute knowledge and meaning, a “decentralization” of authorship, the accumulation of positive knowledge, historical progress, and certain ideals and practices of humanism and the Enlightenment.Jacques Derrida, whose deconstruction is perhaps most commonly labeled nihilistic, did not himself make the nihilistic move that others have claimed. Derridean deconstructionists argue that this approach rather frees texts, individuals or organizations from a restrictive truth, and that deconstruction opens up the possibility of other ways of being.
Postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard wrote briefly of nihilism from the postmodern viewpoint in Simulacra and Simulation. He stuck mainly to topics of interpretations of the real world over the simulations of which the real world is composed. The uses of meaning was an important subject in Baudrillard's discussion of nihilism:
The apocalypse
is finished, today it is the precession of the neutral, of forms of the neutral
and of indifference…all that remains, is the fascination for desertlike and
indifferent forms, for the very operation of the system that annihilates us.
Now, fascination (in contrast to seduction, which was attached to appearances,
and to dialectical reason, which was attached to meaning) is a nihilistic
passion par excellence, it is the passion proper to the mode of disappearance.
We are fascinated by all forms of disappearance, of our disappearance.
Melancholic and fascinated, such is our general situation in an era of
involuntary transparency.
—Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra
and Simulation, "On
Nihilism", trans. 1995
Nihilism and culture
Television
Thomas Hibbs suggested that the show Seinfeld is a manifestation of nihilism in television. The very basis of the sitcom is that it is a "show about nothing." The majority of the episodes focused on minutiae. The view presented in Seinfeld is arguably consistent with the philosophy of nihilism, the idea that life is pointless, and from which arises a feeling of the absurd that characterizes the show's ironic humor.Literature
In the graphic novel Watchmen, the character The Comedian/Edward Blake displays and is characterized as being a nihilist, both moral and political, to the extent of openly committing murder in order to demonstrate the lack of human concern or nerve (stating that Dr. Manhattan could have stopped him at any moment, but chose not to). Dr. Manhattan is also portrayed as a nihilist on the cosmic scale by stating if the Earth was destroyed and all life on it eradicated, the universe would not notice.
Quotes regarding nihilism
There must be somebody there, because somebody must have
said "Nobody.”
“The point is there ain't no point.”
“I see in the fight club the strongest and smartest men
who've ever lived. I see all this potential and I see squandering. God damn it,
an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars,
advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy
shit we don't need. We're the middle children of the history man, no purpose or
place, we have no Great war, no Great depression, our great war is a spiritual
war, our great depression is our lives, we've been all raised by television to
believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars,
but we won't and we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed
off.”
“Life's
but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
“Nothing exists; even if something
exists, nothing can be known about it; and even if something can be known about
it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others.”
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