The term
nihilism is often used as a
derogatory label intended to
impugn the
moral credibility of a certain target. In this
normative sense, it is meant as
nothing more than an exclamation of
negative sentiment; a way of expressing
distaste for the thing being refferred to.
Taken seriously as a
philosophic concept, however, it acquires a more interesting dimension. Literally,
nihilism is a
doctrine of nothingness. It is an extreme form of
skepticism which holds that any
genuine knowledge of the world, wether it be
moral,
scientific,
metaphysical,
political or
theological is impossible. It is an
epistemological doctrine stemming from the conviction that man is incapable of knowing the world's true nature either because
the world has no true nature or because the nature of the world is inaccessible to man's
intuitive,
intellectual or
sensory apparatus.
The
nihilist is in an unusual position in relation to the world. Unlike a
cartesian, the
nihilist is never able to satisfy himself that the world is
as it seems. He has no
Archimedian point on which to stand, and no way to be certain of what is real or imaginary, or of what is
true or false. This skepticism about man's ability to understand the world was described by
Nietzsche as the
death of God. Man's
loss of faith in God and the
eternal truths that he ensures undermines all
structures of authority, leaving man in a position where, apart from his
will to do so, he has no justification for
asserting anything as true or false. This
responsibility for one's perspective is
potentially crippling and may lead to feelings of
despair and
negativity. If
nothing can be known for certain, and if there are no
objective standards by which to judge truth and falsehood,
life could be seen as meaningless and
absurd. Further, if
life is meaningless and absurd then there is no justification for choosing life over death.
All nihilists must deal with the issue of how and if life has value. This is the very topic which propelled
Albert Camus' writing career, and as he observed
the nihilist is not comitted to life denial or suicide. He may instead elect to
suffer through life in uncertainty, struggling each and every day with feelings of negativity as an option against suicide and death. As
another option he may choose to
rebel against this
negative propensity and instead of feeling
resentment towards his situation, will himself to experience the
exhilaration of
interpretive freedom. The choice of the nihilist is, then, not necessarily the choice between living and dying, but the choice between adopting a
passive or an
active stance towards the world. Both
Camus and
Nietzsche advocate the choice of active over passive
nihilism.
Passive nihilsim is indicative of a decline in
spiritual power. It is characterized by the inability to
create, or in the
extreme to
react. The
passive nihilist is one who, when faced with the world's uncertainty,
withdraws and refuses to
enagage the world. For him, uncertainty is a sufficient condition not to proceed through life, and so
paralysed by fear of the
unknown and unknowable he does
nothing.
Nietzsche described this condition as ".. the weary nihilism that no longer attacks..a passive nihilism, a
sign of weakness".
Active Nihilism, on the other hand, is indicative of a relative
increase in spiritual power. the
active nihilist sees
freedom where the passive nihilist sees
absurdity or meaninglessness. He chooses
action and
creation instead of passivity and withdrawal. For him, the lack of
objective standards of
truth motivates
self created standards and criteria.
The active nihilist is not active despite the unknown but because of it. He possesses a store of
creative energy and power which allows him to impose
personal meaning on the world while never forgetting that
he is the source and
progenitor of that meaning. He is
heroic in this sense, facing the world with courage and purpose.
John Marmysz -
From night to day :
Nihilism and the walking dead