Nihilism

[SamMalone]

What is your opinion on this philosophy? It seems like a dangerous philosophy to have but I find myself agreeing with it.

 

[Nighthawk]

"I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos..."

 

[Bonhomme]

Can be jolly good fun if not taken seriously.

 

[KarmaSutra]

If that's what you want to believe it's not the end of the world.

 

[Bible_Belt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

Nihilism not only dismisses received moral values, but rejects 'morality' outright, viewing it as baseless.


I don't understand the complete rejection of morality. Surely, anyone can think of someone or something immoral: Hitler, Osama, etc.

If you were the victim of a crime, you would feel wronged, but nihilism says that there is no right or wrong, so a nihilist can't ever complain about how other people treat him?

 

[Master Bates]

Just get a marmot and you'll be set.

 

[speakeasy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

Nihilism not only dismisses received moral values, but rejects 'morality' outright, viewing it as baseless.


I don't understand the complete rejection of morality. Surely, anyone can think of someone or something immoral: Hitler, Osama, etc.

If you were the victim of a crime, you would feel wronged, but nihilism says that there is no right or wrong, so a nihilist can't ever complain about how other people treat him?

Exactly, that's why nihilist are usually angst-ridden people with too much time on their hands.

 

[Nighthawk]

I've met the toe you know.

 

[azanon]

There's no problem with recognizing the existence of morality. Even a child can do it. The only important thing to remember is that no religion or God has the market cornered on morality, despite what they will tell you. A Christian will use his God (and Bible) as the benchmark for morality. A Muslim will claim Allah is the benchmark. And so on, and so forth. Different societies around the world also have their various ideas.

It really comes down to actions that cause harm to living things. If an action is harmful to life or something living, then that action is potentially amoral. Then it can get complicated when one action can have both harmful and beneficial consequences (such as war).

 

[theunflushables]

I don't know about nihilism on a social scale, but as a personal scale I like it. Destruction of the former self to create something better. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.

If you're into big reads try Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra.