Nihilism does not exist

“It is impossible for a human to learn what they already think they know.” — Epictetus, 55–135 CE.

I think, therefore, I don’t exist, say the worshipers of nothing, but nihilism is entirely irrational. There is nothing more refuted than nihilism. Nihilism doesn’t exist because it’s a philosophical concept that has no physical presence in the world, just an unorganized collection of contradictory ideas. This ideology will be tossed into the annals of history, and we will flush it away multiple times, burying the pessimistic ideas of gloomy, solitary, and decayed philosophers in eternal oblivion. The nihilists are dead and will be forgotten!

The term “nihilism” is overrated by people with madness or those who live in the despair of extreme suffering. Unfortunately, among the most popular search trends on Google, the term “nihilism” has been searched more than “atheism” or “materialism” in the last decade. It’s unfortunate that the philosophy of nothingness still seduces the majority of “intellectuals.”

In our little world, there are two examples of intellectuals: those who are concerned with enlightening and seeking knowledge, thereby contributing to intellectual progress, and those who are concerned with obscuring and trying to establish imaginary limits to knowledge. Nihilists are the trolls of knowledge, the jesters, the court fools who want to make appearances with their entertaining displays of pure irrationality and hatred of wisdom. Not content with denying themselves, they want to destroy reality. Nihilists are the anti-philosophers, the misologists. In short, nihilist arguments are ill-defined, lacking rigor, unsustainable, and without scope.

Throughout history, the word “nihilism” has different meanings and differs greatly from one author to another. Nihilism is a term that affects many areas of knowledge, and there are several classifications of nihilism, including ethical, epistemological, mereological, cosmic, existential, political, religious, medical nihilism, but in general, the meaning I will present here is nihilism as the philosophy of negation of the realities or important values of a society, so it is basically the denial of existence or the possibility of knowledge of universal truths, thereby creating problems for the individual and society.

Nihilism was born precisely during the Romantic movement in Europe. In a precise philosophical sense, the concept of nihilism was first used around the late 18th century. The first to use the term nihilism in the German language was the theologian Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, in a letter to Fichte to characterize it unfavorably to transcendental idealism, which, according to him, is a doctrine of religious and moral negation. However, Jacobi also associated nihilism with materialism, specifically Spinoza’s materialism, as another form of religious and moral negation. Jacobi believed that only a leap of faith could prevent “nihilism.” Soon, nihilism began to distinguish itself from materialism, adopting a final position of radical skepticism and solipsism that denies matter and is essentially a literal belief in absolute nothingness.

Nihilism developed in 19th century Russia, the Czar’s slow pace in promoting democratic reforms angered some anarchist intellectuals, so anarchists considered “nihilists” promoted terrorist bomb attacks with the noble intention of bringing about political change.

With the irrationalist ideas of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, nihilism gained new momentum. These writers created a true cult of nothingness, associating the word nothing with concepts such as depression, death, decay, destruction. In other words, according to them, nothingness represents human death and destruction.

Friedrich Nietzsche was undoubtedly the greatest representative of nihilism in history, the most famous developer of nihilist ideas, he argues that there are no comprehensible truths or essential values, everything being empty. Any truth, according to Nietzsche: “is necessarily false, since there is simply no true world” (Will to Power). For nihilists, moral values are denied and labeled as something disguised as selfishness and hypocrisy.

Nihilism, that beautiful and ironically little word without an exact meaning, before Nietzsche this term had never gained the meaning of a crisis of existential values in every society. (Don’t you think it’s very convenient that the one who claims to be the only one with the cure is precisely the one who diagnosed the disease?). If there is no disease: nihilism, there is no need for a cure, and the entire tragic sea that Nietzsche intended becomes just a small mound of mud to be overcome in a single step! It is comical that Nietzsche often positioned himself as if he were someone against nihilism, however, his ideas can easily be classified as a representation of epistemological, moral and political nihilism.

Nihilism represents a romantic and irrational philosophy that can be overcome and forgotten, after all, something exists, we exist, existence is not complete emptiness, and to deny this is pure irrationalism.

A person whose actions do not align with their words annoys me. The more they speak, the more I despise them, and it seems like I’m a hater of their speech. Actions should correspond to words; anyone who doesn’t practice what they preach is a hypocrite who contradicts themselves. Nihilists claim the nonexistence of truth so they can commit their heinous crimes without feeling guilty. That’s why there has historically been an association between nihilism and anarchism. People who haven’t committed heinous crimes or who aren’t truly deviant in the eyes of society cannot consider themselves practitioners of ethical nihilism. I find it amusing that people who are law-abiding, follow morality and ethics, label themselves as nihilists. A real nihilist is a suicidal murderer, a terrorist willing to blow themselves up, a life with no value. Morality is only good for being destroyed or sacrificed for some foolish and useless cause. Nihilism is harmful and misguided. Rarely do we see someone who self-proclaims as a nihilist actually following what they claim. In other words, anyone who calls themselves a nihilist is a hypocrite.

The proposition that all beliefs are meaningless is in itself a belief. So, what is the point of believing in nihilism?

Above all, everyday problems weaken people, not abstract philosophy. Although people may be familiar with nihilist philosophy, most will never experience significant existential crises in their lives, and rarely will someone take their own life just because they read that their life is meaningless. Real problems and dilemmas that lead people to suicide usually involve social class issues. In other words, people suffer from poverty, disease, prejudice, and existential dilemmas are the least of a human being’s concerns. I want to clarify that economic, social, and biological problems are more important than psychological issues caused only by a few philosophically pessimistic and impactful phrases and concepts.

Ethical nihilism consists of the assertion that there are no ethical or moral standards. This is what Nietzsche claimed, a discourse of denial of the existence of morality and ethics through radical selfishness. Epistemological nihilism is the denial of the existence of truth. In this definition of nihilism, Nietzsche was undeniably a theorist of a nihilistic philosophy. But because it is an impractical philosophy, Nietzsche led a normal life, without committing any immorality or heinous crimes.

If nihilism, in its exaggerated rejection of meaning and truth, is taken seriously, it produces a feeling of despair, loss, and destruction. In other words, the end product of nihilism is merely a will for death and madness.

Moral values are created by groups of individuals. It’s impossible for an individual to change these values based on their revolted will. Immoral and unethical acts are viewed as heinous crimes that usually serve as examples and reinforce the morality of the majority of people. Nietzsche only exacerbates psychological problems, mainly with what he calls active nihilism, which, in a complete sense of despair, encourages the individual to pursue their desires, whatever they may be. It’s not about a shy person asking the neighbor out; it’s about disturbed minds committing rape, murder, pedophilia, etc. Active nihilism is the will to die or kill in an act of despair. What Nietzsche never put into practice serves as inspiration for some rare ethical nihilists! In 1924, Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb played what became known as the greatest crime of the 20th century. The young men belonged to two of Chicago’s wealthiest families, with extraordinary intelligence. Leopold, at 19, graduated in law, and Loeb was the youngest graduate from the University of Michigan. Inspired by Nietzsche’s philosophy and considering themselves supermen, they decided to commit the perfect crime. They kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. The boy was lured into the car and received a fatal blow to the head. They then hid the body and, in an attempt to avoid identification, poured acid on the corpse. The murderers wrote a letter to Franks’ parents, pretending to be kidnappers and asking for a ransom. After the crime was discovered due to a forgotten custom-made pair of eyeglasses that belonged to Leopold, they were sentenced to life imprisonment. Loeb died at the age of 30 in prison, and Leopold was eventually released after serving 33 years in prison and wrote an autobiographical book. This story became famous worldwide and inspired many films and plays, including Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Rope.”

In philosophy and science, it is necessary to ask the right questions. Many of the problems of human knowledge can be false problems. A false problem can lead to the eternal quest for an answer that doesn’t exist. The question of the meaning of existence is often romanticized through literature, cinema, and the media in general. There are various answers, but it’s remarkable how a simple question is elevated to something special, which probably isn’t the most profound question of human knowledge.

Even though gods aren’t a universal element in all human societies (as there are indigenous tribes without this concept), this question is often psychologically associated with divine existence, as if life wouldn’t be worth living and wouldn’t have any meaning without a god. If there were a specific meaning to human life, each of us would be obliged to follow it, but many wouldn’t accept such a purpose. The fact that human beings are always dissatisfied is an essential characteristic of the common human condition. Therefore, even if there were gods and eternal life similar to earthly existence, but with a daily routine focused on worshiping a divine dictator, even if that were the meaning of life, there would still be many dissatisfied, unhappy, and rebellious people. Perhaps most human beings are incompatible with the possibility of immortality and absolute happiness.

People aren’t forced to give meaning to themselves and others because they already are their own meaning. No one creates any value because they are already a value created by their family. Therefore, there is the possibility of destroying this value through suicide or maintaining this value at almost the same level with a normal and mediocre life. There is also the possibility of contributing to the improvement of the world and thereby increasing one’s value.

The human mind is programmed to live and feels fulfillment in mastering challenging tasks. Depression begins when the mind can no longer learn and cannot overcome any limits. In some people with depressive tendencies, nihilism can exacerbate despair and create the belief that self-improvement is futile and illusory. In these cases, nihilism is like an attempt to harm the brain’s natural programming, becoming a limiting belief that affects the will to live. Research indicates that optimistic people live longer. Nihilism is undeniably a pessimistic philosophy that leads people to live with less quality.

All conscious beings question the meaning of existence and the need to always desire. If not even the gods can escape the search for meaning beyond themselves, if both religious and materialistic individuals face the same path of seeking goals and meaning, then we are all nihilists. This is equivalent to stating that it’s not a special position but something obvious, trivial, and simple. The only way to distinguish a nihilistic person would be the ethics by which the individual acts. Most of those who declare themselves nihilists cannot act differently from the majority of the population; they can’t create nihilistic practices and behaviors. Therefore, the label of nihilist becomes useless and merely equivalent to a rhetorical ornament, just a title based on a sound that escapes the throat and doesn’t refer to something different. It’s an idea without any impact on people’s lives. Therefore, self-identifying as a nihilist is logically incorrect due to the inability to differentiate from other human beings who don’t declare themselves nihilists and deal with the same existential question of seeking or questioning the meaning of their actions and desires.

Although many so-called “nihilists” live a life full of goals and fear death, they like to repeat that life has no meaning because they feel they possess an absolute truth. They consider themselves cultured for expressing a pessimistic, defeatist, and depressive idea that disdains any desire for improvement. Sometimes, this statement is used as an argument to support immoral or unusual situations, or in extreme cases as the certainty of the nonexistence of truth. But any philosopher with a minimum of humility, decency, and intellectual honesty knows that there is no method or reason capable of proving the nonexistence of objective and universal truths. The attempt to prove anything already presupposes the existence of some level of truth, and there is no epistemological method to evaluate all truths to the point of discarding the possibility of absolute knowledge. I will shout until my lungs burst that the main weapon of fanatical life-deniers is the denial of truth. The absence of truth causes life to lose value and direction. If life is not true, then it can be wasted. If truth doesn’t exist, then love ceases to exist or becomes diminished. Let’s admit that epistemological nihilism leads to existential nihilism. If truth is a beautiful lady, it’s quite fair to assume that philosophers who don’t believe in truth never loved her.

Truth is so simple, so obvious and easy that beggars can lie down with it and become great thinkers. But this makes incels furious, wishing to conquer and hide the truth for themselves, thus making simple ideas obscure, writing them in a complicated manner to try to hide the truth. Truth, that promiscuous and beautiful woman, is always rejected by those who don’t understand sex and love.

Religious people assume that without God, there is no morality. Another religious bias is claiming that without God, there is no foundation for truth. They consider God to be truth, and this rotten religious bias only serves to underpin epistemological nihilism, a prejudice inherited by Nietzsche. If, for the mustached philosopher, there are no facts but only interpretations, then no interpretation can be considered superior to another. Thus, there is no truth, and there is no foundation for objective morality or ethics. Although Nietzsche liked some values, his antirealism and esotericism can be considered a way to define moral nihilism philosophically. In this way, Nietzsche, without a foundation for any kind of truth, could have been the father of “epistemological anarchism” proposed by Paul Feyerabend, where even astrology can be considered a science.

“The world seen from the inside, the world determined by its ‘intelligible character’ would be precisely ‘will to power,’ and nothing more.” — Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, §36. Even though Nietzsche claims throughout his work that life has no meaning, he creates the concept of will to power and unconsciously seduces the reader into believing that the meaning of life is this will. But being contradictory, Nietzsche maintains the idea that life has no value, causing people to feel insignificant and powerless, thereby enhancing the desire for power as the meaning of life. Nietzsche often uses more than one meaning for his concepts. While in most texts, he affirms a will to power as a desire for domination, at other times, he contradicts himself, stating that will to power is something more peaceful and artistic, like the act of creating, giving, and evaluating. But in Nietzsche, the dominant meaning is indeed the desire for domination, which aligns with his antidemocratic aristocratic desires. The will to power is the most complete form of self-destruction, a seed of eternal dissatisfaction. This will fuels the greatest existential crises. No concept has proven to be as destructive, evil, and nihilistic as this illusion that turns everything into a game and prevents people from seeking the meaning of life. We don’t live on a chessboard; life is not a game, not a reputation competition. We don’t need to compete in anything. Change is a waste of what we already are. We don’t need to become individuals. We don’t need more power. Life is a simple story. The true meaning of life is to love nature and bring happiness to those we love.

Nihilists, by using the term “nothing,” make empty space seem bad and evil. They use this mental association as a synonym for death and annihilation. This is where the great linguistic turn occurs. An empty space is not bad or scary. Surely, astronauts enjoy the space vacuum, they love diving into the spatial void. For example, if the empty space of the universe were entirely filled with bricks, then there would be no visible movement, everything would be static. Empty space is what allows movement. Therefore, those who enjoy being alive should thank the space vacuum for enabling the movement of bodies. The supposed void and existential anguish are caused by brain chemistry. Linguistically associating empty space with negative concepts is a philosophical tradition of individualism aimed at turning personal failures and pain into universal truths. Logic reveals the curious fact of how the term “nothing” and the supposed “lack of meaning” can be applied to anything. There is nihilism in everything because nihilism is not rational. It only tries to deny the possibility of knowledge and values. Nihilism seeks to nullify everything, regardless of the starting point. For a nihilist, the only possible meaning is nothing!