If you are a nihilist, why bother trying to persuade others to agree with you?

Question

Indeed, if you a nihilist, why would you believe it to be worthwhile to exchange ideas on Yahoo! Answers?

Answer 1

Nothing in human life is pure, including one's philosophy.

Even a nihilist should have the compunction to test his/her beliefs with discussion, argument, and reasonable dissertation.

Only a fanatic rejects objective trial that could validate (or change) of their faith or belief, in which case their personal philosphy or religion is (or will become) stagnant.

Answer 2

Guess u wouldn't unless that is your specific cause to fight against.

Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that the world, especially past and current human existence, is without objective meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following: there is no reasonable proof of the existence of a higher ruler or creator, a "true morality" is unknown, and secular ethics are impossible; therefore, life has no truth, and no action can be preferable to any other.[1]

Nihilism is often more of a charge leveled against a particular idea, movement, or group, than it is an actual philosophical position to which someone overtly subscribes. Movements such as Dadaism as well as Futurism[2] and deconstructionism,[3] among others, have been described by commentators as "nihilist" at various times in various contexts. Often this means or is meant to imply that the beliefs of the accuser are more substantial or truthful, whereas the beliefs of the accused are nihilistic, and thereby comparatively amount to nothing (or are simply claimed to be destructively amoralistic).

Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch,[4] and some Christian theologians and figures of authority have asserted that modernity[3] and postmodernity[5] represent the rejection of God, and therefore are nihilistic.

Nihilism is often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche, though Nietzsche explicitly repudiated it. Another prominent philosopher who has written on the subject is Martin Heidegger who argued that "[the term] nihilism has a very specific meaning. What remains unquestioned and forgotten in metaphysics is being; and hence, it is nihilistic."[6

Answer 3

I don't think there are any nihilists. If anybody really believed that nothing was of any value, they would have no basis on which to perform any action.

Why eat? It doesn't matter. Why get up in the morning? Why do anything? It can't possibly make any difference.

But everybody does something. Thus it's more of a slur or an adjective than an actual description. You can be nihilistic, but nobody is really a nihilist.

Answer 4

Dear Manneke,

I'm with you on this. One would think a true nihilist would not bother trying to persuade others to agree with him.

Perhaps, like W.C. Fields, he is checking for loopholes,

or as people used to say about the person about to make a car person, kicking the tires,

to see if his unhappy position really stands up, or if there is a way out of the maze he has created and got lost in, in his mind.

Hey Ho,

Maggie

Answer 5

In general, so they will stop bugging you with their enthusiasms. In specific -- who said anyone participating on YA is a nihilist? You didn't request or specify that only nihilists should answer; I sincerely doubt that, in fact, there are any here.

Answer 6

you're operating under the false assumption that all motivation follows from the existence of objective moral norms. this is simply untrue. People are motivated by all sorts of things, not simply the existence of objective moral norms. So the nihilist is simply motivated by things other than objective moral norms. for example, their lives may have meaning to them, they may create a meaning for themselves, and they live in a world of pre-existing social meanings, and they can express meaning in their actions. none of these things need be 'objective', it can be perfectly subjective meaning that has no objective justification. but it can still motivate people.

for example, I don't kill people not because I believe there is some objective moral norm that says we ought to care, but simply because I care about people and don't want to harm them, and this matters to me. I realize that my caring and it mattering are not objectively justifiable, but they motivate me even more on that account precisely because they are reflective of ME and not a seperate objective moral truth the existence of which is independant of me. Indeed, I would call someone fundamentally a coward if they were not brave enough to act without their actions being justified by an objective moral order.

Also keep in mind, that it is not an argument against nihilism to point out that it has bad effects. the truth or falsehood of any proposition is independant of its effects.

Answer 7

Because, and even though they won't admit it, even nihilists get lonely sometimes.

Answer 8

I'm too apathetic to be a nihilist.

Answer 9

to make everyone else feel just as bad as you do. but don't you think it would be easier to make yourself feel better.

I'm not sure who I'm talking to when i say "you"

Answer 10

i agree completely, but what i don't understand is their teaching: if there is no truth in life, then that is one truth [that there is no truth]. therefore nihilism is contradictory in itself.