2019

Nihilism, which is closely related to the existentialist movement, is an ideology that is becoming ever more pervasive in modern society, while at the same time, religion as an institution is in decline. This is precisely the situation Nietzsche predicted in his infamous exclamation, “God is dead, and we have killed him” (Nietzsche). Belief structures that individuals hold strongly influence action. Religion, as an institution, has historically been the central unifier of belief and, thus, the central unifier of purpose-driven action. Nihilism, on the other hand, is a fixation on the belief that life is purposeless. It can arise from examining the nuances of beliefs, which leads to the breakdown of all ideological concepts. It can also arise from a sense of nausea or uneasiness when examining the world around oneself (Sartre), or from philosophical investigations into the absurdity of life (Camus). It is intuitive and logical that believing in a lack of meaning and the general futility of life undermines the conviction of any action, thus counteracting long-term endeavors.

At the individual level, building a life with a central goal or ideological “north star” requires the ability to exert consistency of action, which in turn requires a stable belief structure. At the level of society, the formation of any stable culture or community requires the ability to align the productive masses toward a certain ideology or set of ideologies. This alignment helps overcome individual variability, facilitating consistent collective action. There is considerable debate about what the greatest ideal might be. Happiness, for instance, has its advocates and its theories. However, no matter the ideal, making any effort towards it requires consistency in action. What is also clear is that this consistency is easily undermined by nihilistic beliefs. The question, then, is: What are some ideological strategies that might have a chance of combating nihilism?

There are several potential approaches. One likely candidate is dismantling the validity of nihilism as an ultimate truth, replacing it with another ideological structure, such as morality or an ethical code. Taking on responsibility to create one’s own belief structure can be a foundational core truth. While responsibility is a belief in the necessity of action and can also be undermined, it is itself the opposite ideological stance to nihilism. By adopting responsibility as a core belief, it can counteract the instability caused by nihilistic beliefs.

Nihilism assumes a lack of purpose and meaning to be the ultimate truth. This belief often leads to anguish and, in the extreme, the conclusion that suicide is preferable to life (Camus). However, this can be dismantled through a similar skepticism and investigation of truth. One central path to nihilism is an understanding that there is no real meaning behind ideological concepts (Nietzsche). The realization that there is no meaning leads to the belief that there is no purpose because belief in any given purpose requires conviction in a direction, which itself requires a stable belief structure. If the concept of meaning is disabled—an effect of nihilistic belief—then any sense of purpose is dismantled. This is how nihilism undermines a sense of purpose in life. However, this logic can be deconstructed.

Instead of concluding that there is no meaning, we can understand that the concept of meaning as we know it is based on the necessity of shared concepts between humans as an evolutionary development. Perhaps there is no other meaning than the communicative purpose of human-made concepts, but this does not undermine meaning in a broader sense because, as a concept itself, it doesn’t exist outside the bounds of the human domain. It is true that when one asserts something has meaning, one can question what that means, which can lead to the deconstruction of that meaning. But meaning remains implicit to humans and implicit in its role. Even if the concept of meaning can extend beyond human understanding, it is not grounds enough to conclude there is no meaning in a broader sense. Additionally, the assertion that everything is meaningless is itself an assertion that relies on meaning as a concept. It does not follow from the breakdown of the concept of meaning that the truth lies in its negation, but rather that the concept itself is broken down. Therefore, the fact that the concept of meaning breaks down outside of the human domain doesn’t mean everything lacks meaning. Instead, it means that the idea of meaning doesn’t apply to concepts outside the scope of human understanding.

What is left after the breakdown of all ideologies is simply cause and effect. If most ideologies and human-made concepts’ validity can be dismantled when trying to apply them outside the human domain, the stability of any idea is compromised. For this reason, any belief involves some level of faith or self-delusion (Nietzsche). One issue that arises when attempting to form any coherent ideological strategy against nihilism is that the very ideology can be undermined by nihilistic beliefs. Nietzsche addresses this concern, noting that once one understands that all beliefs can be dismantled, there is no going back. Future beliefs will always carry some underlying doubt and instability.

Instead of viewing nihilism merely as an issue, Nietzsche asserts that “belief is always most desired, most pressingly needed, where there is a lack of will.” He places value on the ability to live without belief, seeing freedom and liberation in it. The issue with this stance, however, is that it implies the non-existence of morality, which can justify extreme beliefs and actions. Many link Nietzsche’s philosophy to Hitler’s persecution of the Jewish people. From the standpoint of nihilism, where good and evil are dismantled, genocide or any ideologically based action can be justified by rejecting the validity of opposing values. Regardless of the status of morality as a universal truth, its defense of extreme views becomes illusory because these very beliefs affirmed by nihilism can also be destroyed by it. It becomes a mechanism for gaining power, and this application of nihilism likely continues until the desired ideology is justified. At that point, the individual abandons questioning their framework’s validity, delving deeper into illusory belief.

The issue with this is that it allows for certainty of belief in extreme ideologies, which, when in conflict, destabilizes any coherent ideological framework upon which consistent action could be applied. As previously noted, consistency in action is necessary for attaining any ideal life or even justifying life itself.

One key aspect is that the effects of nihilism depend on the prevalence of the ideological belief structure in an individual’s mind. If an individual becomes increasingly nihilistic, they will have experiences that convince them of certain truths, such as believing everything is meaningless because meaning as a concept doesn’t hold, or that life is pointless due to human insignificance in the context of the universe. Nihilism is simply another ideological framework, and if the focus is taken away from this structure in an individual and replaced with another ideological framework, then theoretically, nihilism can be defeated through ideological attack. The issue is how to do this, because as Nietzsche observed, understanding that all ideologies can be broken down and stripped of their unequivocal truth is irreversible; Pandora’s box cannot be closed. Even in this state of complete ideological breakdown, humans retain an understanding of cause and effect. Despite the apparent lack of meaning, an individual will intrinsically desire a certain outcome over others. Simply understanding the less desirable outcomes of nihilistic core beliefs, one can then choose to adopt beliefs that lead to a more favorable outcome.

Taking on certain beliefs as a core ideological framework—such as a self-created and valued ethical code—can be the ideological tool. This can be conceptualized by assuming responsibility for one’s own life, which implies taking control of belief structures that enforce resulting actions. Even if an individual understands the breakdown of belief, they can still choose through conscious will to adopt these other frameworks, even when they know these frameworks can be deconstructed. This is because knowledge of cause and effect, particularly the understanding that certain ideological beliefs will lead to better outcomes, guides this decision. It is fair to assume that nihilistic beliefs can erode the strength of an adopted ideological strategy, but reminding oneself of cause and effect—the undesirable results of nihilistic belief—and the benefits of adopting some stable ideological framework can serve as the remedy. In a world devoid of purpose and meaning, there are still intrinsic human desires and impulses that can either make life better or worse. Therefore, it makes sense to adopt beliefs that will make your life the best it can be. Taking on the responsibility of maintaining a consistently disciplined set of core beliefs, through an ethical code and moral sense, is a promising answer.