What is it?
Nihilism is a philosophical viewpoint that argues that life lacks inherent meaning, value, or purpose. It is often characterized by a rejection of commonly accepted beliefs, moral systems, or truths. There are different branches of nihilism, and its interpretation can vary significantly depending on the context.
Friedrich Nietzsche a well known German philosopher commonly know for his famous statement ‘God is dead’. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism is most often associated with Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and cause the greatest crisis in human history. He believed there are two types of nihilists, passive and active.
Passive Nihilism
According to Nietzsche, passive nihilists are people who gradually distance themselves from their own will or wants in an effort to lessen the misery they experience as a result of the unpredictability and chaos of existence.
This type of pessimistic nihilism can be frequently seen in media through characters who embody it and act out in a destructive way. For example, the antagonist, Jobu Topaki in Everything Everywhere All At Once comes to this realisation through her multi-dimensional awareness, which convinces her that because of the infinite nature of reality, none of her choices matter and so she attempts to destroy herself to escape the insignificance and meaninglessness she feels.
Active Nihilism
Active nihilists instead see nihilism as a freeing condition, revealing a world where they are encouraged to create something new on top of the destruction of the old values and ways of thinking. The character Zarathustra is from one of Nietzsches most successful works ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ , in this book he has Zarathustra posit the Übermensch (super-man). Nietzsches idea of an active nihilist; the Übermensch, is a person who overcomes the struggle of nihilism by working to create their own meaning in the face of meaninglessness. This description if an active nihilist is very similar to my other phylosphy the game will be covering, existentialism. For more information about this click below.