- Jun 1, 2004
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Nihilism... a doctrine... a particular perspective of life where 'nothing matters'.
If we accept a nihilistic death - i.e. an end to the physical consciousness without an after life - then we must accept that the ultimate sum of our experiences will be nothingness...
Now, as per Nihilism, this nothingness is exactly equal if we live a good life like raise a family etc or if we spend our lives james bond style or if we just decide to walk out in front of a truck right now... The state of non-existence is exactly the same, ie future, present and past do not exist to you (because you don't), thus nothing you did whilst you were alive actually matters at the point of death...
Since we all know we're going to die, why bother with all the slings and arrows? There isn't a great deal of use to the continuation of life.
There are various objections though. The fact that the enjoyment of life is enough. We only experience consciousness and thus we are infinitely alive in a subjective sense. We need no meaning to life to live. Sheer logic that there is no point to living...
For we humans who desire significance and self-importance more than anything else, the promise that our lives mean nothing as do our actions is a bit of a blow.
Curious about what do you think about Nihilism ?
If we accept a nihilistic death - i.e. an end to the physical consciousness without an after life - then we must accept that the ultimate sum of our experiences will be nothingness...
Now, as per Nihilism, this nothingness is exactly equal if we live a good life like raise a family etc or if we spend our lives james bond style or if we just decide to walk out in front of a truck right now... The state of non-existence is exactly the same, ie future, present and past do not exist to you (because you don't), thus nothing you did whilst you were alive actually matters at the point of death...
Since we all know we're going to die, why bother with all the slings and arrows? There isn't a great deal of use to the continuation of life.
There are various objections though. The fact that the enjoyment of life is enough. We only experience consciousness and thus we are infinitely alive in a subjective sense. We need no meaning to life to live. Sheer logic that there is no point to living...
For we humans who desire significance and self-importance more than anything else, the promise that our lives mean nothing as do our actions is a bit of a blow.
Curious about what do you think about Nihilism ?
