Nihilism as end-all philosophy

[STS]

I'm sure that with enough reasoning and debating, eventually everything boils down to Nihilism.

The definitions of Nihilism:

Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.[1] Moral nihilists assert that morality does not inherently exist, and that any established moral values are abstractly contrived. Nihilism can also take epistemological, metaphysical, or ontological forms, meaning respectively that, in some aspect, knowledge is not possible, or that contrary to popular belief, some commonly perceived aspects of reality do not exist.

Some people entertain the idea that there is a possibility of God, I've come to accept that there is no God until further notice.

Likewise I do not believe in a universal morality, if eating kids were acceptable to society then there would be nothing wrong with it.

I am still a positive person, you can look at life and think "Life sucks, there is nothing to it." or you can think "Life has no rules! Woohoo!". I just think that it is a superior philosophy.

Counter arguments

[satanboy]

...

Counter arguments

Nope...I am 100% Nihilist.

[Rocket Raccoon]

Nihilists! F*** me. I mean say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism , at least it's an ethos.

[Geriatrix]

Counter arguments

I just think that it is a superior philosophy.

Explain this comment then.

[Nick333]

See what I mean about absolutism? Who cares? Morality is evolved not merely contrived. What we think is good is good because it contributes to our survival. That's good enough for me.

[Nick333]

And what do you mean life has no rules? Unless you're posting from Max c you're obviously abiding by generally accepted morality.

[STS]

See what I mean about absolutism? Who cares? Morality is evolved not merely contrived. What we think is good is good because it contributes to our survival. That's good enough for me.

yep, but good is abstract. what is good to you may not be good to me. say we say somethign is good and it is not really important to our survival, like donating a few cents into a can to charity. why do it?

And what do you mean life has no rules? Unless you're posting from Max c you're obviously abiding by generally accepted morality.

life has no rules, we make the rules up. we act horrified and mortified when there is a child molestor on the loose, but the uinverse does nothing to prevent the child molestor from doing what he does and if it were not for people, the universe would not punish him. we create our own man-made morality, we accept it when a dog humps a person's leg and laugh, but when a tiny chinese person does it we think it's strange

also, the world is split on belief, split on views on abortion, split on the view of the best form of government, the world is made up of differing views and philosophies that think that they are the more correct and lesser of the two evils.

i also just wondered, as a nihilist is to morality/value, so a strong atheist is to religion. i just know a lot of atheists believe in some kind of order, even if they can not explain it

[STS]

Explain this comment then.

you raised it in the other thread so i just started a topic on it i feel like with enough rationalising people can come to the conclusion that nothing matters and that we can do anything

[Geriatrix]

you raised it in the other thread so i just started a topic on it i feel like with enough rationalising people can come to the conclusion that nothing matters and that we can do anything

I know, I'm asking questions to get clarity on your exact position and to check if you're sure of your own.
Why is being a positive person a superior philosophy?

life has no rules, we make the rules up. we act horrified and mortified when there is a child molestor on the loose, but the uinverse does nothing to prevent the child molestor from doing what he does and if it were not for people, the universe would not punish him.

But there are people. And they assert their self-chosen rules vigorously.

we create our own man-made morality, we accept it when a dog humps a person's leg and laugh, but when a tiny chinese person does it we think it's strange

Yup. Why?

also, the world is split on belief, split on views on abortion, split on the view of the best form of government, the world is made up of differing views and philosophies that think that they are the more correct and lesser of the two evils.

i also just wondered, as a nihilist is to morality/value, so a strong atheist is to religion. i just know a lot of atheists believe in some kind of order, even if they can not explain it

Not sure I follow...

[STS]

I know, I'm asking questions to get clarity on your exact position and to check if you're sure of your own.
Why is being a positive person a superior philosophy?

it isn't, just normally the first retort ends up being that a person is depressed, defeatist or cynical, thought i'd get that out of the way

But there are people. And they assert their self-chosen rules vigorously.

that is true, but it all depends on the kind of people then. nobody's rules are better than another person's rules, unless the govenment seems to back the one person.

Yup. Why?


Not sure I follow...

just that all beliefs and decisions are subjective. there are some facts in life like there not being a God in the heavens or knocking a table will produce a sound, but there is really no such thing as better behaviour or a way to go about htings. i actualyl posted this such a long time ago i cannot remember why i was bringing nihilism up in the first place

[Geriatrix]

it isn't, just normally the first retort ends up being that a person is depressed, defeatist or cynical, thought i'd get that out of the way

Why did you feel the need to do that? I'm not being an ass pushing this, I'm trying to make a point.
Let me try the typical argument against nihilism then, just to be my annoying self Why not just kill yourself if everything is pointless?(Don't worry, this will go somewhere eventually)

that is true, but it all depends on the kind of people then. nobody's rules are better than another person's rules, unless the govenment seems to back the one person.

But somebodies rules comes out on top. It's not random. Is it?

just that all beliefs and decisions are subjective. there are some facts in life like there not being a God in the heavens or knocking a table will produce a sound, but there is really no such thing as better behaviour or a way to go about htings. i actualyl posted this such a long time ago i cannot remember why i was bringing nihilism up in the first place

So why don't you walk around malls kicking babies in the gut?

[OrbitalDawn]

Why did you feel the need to do that? I'm not being an ass pushing this, I'm trying to make a point.
Let me try the typical argument against nihilism then, just to be my annoying self Why not just kill yourself if everything is pointless?(Don't worry, this will go somewhere eventually)

Just because there's no objective meaning or purpose, doesn't negate subjective meaning and experiences you find fulfilling and valuable. There's a lot to discover and experience before my insignificant existence comes to an end.

But somebodies rules comes out on top. It's not random. Is it?

The collective decides, essentially. Society as a whole has found certain actions/behaviour that are beneficial or detrimental to society and the individual. In earlier times, we had to find certain things that helped "the tribe" survive. Eventually we figured out that wanton murder, pillaging and rape isn't conducive to a healthy society.

So why don't you walk around malls kicking babies in the gut?

Why would I want to? Violence repulses me, and besides, would I want to live in a society where I can just as easily be on the receiving end of arbitrary violence? Golden rule helps here.

[Pooky]

I don;t really agree with what it's saying about morals. I think there is a possibility that some form of morals/ethics are natural.

[OrbitalDawn]

I don;t really agree with what it's saying about morals. I think there is a possibility that some form of morals/ethics are natural.

What do you mean? Morals that exist outside of the human mind (and thus a product of the human mind)?

[Geriatrix]

Just because there's no objective meaning or purpose, doesn't negate subjective meaning and experiences you find fulfilling and valuable. There's a lot to discover and experience before my insignificant existence comes to an end.

Cool, so let me start getting to my point. You live your life subjectively, not objectively, if I can put it that way.
So, to you, existence is preferable to non-existence. There, nihilism evaporates into, well, irrelevance.

Why would I want to? Violence repulses me, and besides, would I want to live in a society where I can just as easily be on the receiving end of arbitrary violence? Golden rule helps here.

Bingo. So, to you, in your experience of the world, which for all that you know IS the whole world there are attractive things and repulsive things.

You can say everything is subjective all you want but, people will always act on their subjective perceptions in reality. Each person's subjectivity is their whole reality.

Wow, I feel like I need to pass a joint or something...