• Definition Of A Nihilist
• Is Sans A Nihilist

Brian Christinzio is one of life’s little oddities.

Positive NihilismA text by Eirian J AshleyNihilism in its commonly understood form (existential Nihilism) simply argues that existence is without purpose or meaning. It literally argues that we exist for not reason whatsoever and in allhonesty, I agree.Whilst this initial statement is logical, is understandably quite distressing for a majority of people. It was distressing to myself around age 10, at which time I had entered the state ofquestioning the world and the meaning of existence. My worries prompted my father to suggest that I sound like a Nihilist and my father, being politically, philosophically and religiously open suchas he is, informed me of what Nihilism was.At first it was quite a daunting realisation, to realise that you're not the first person to think this but also that it seems quite correct.

It took a small while for me to work through that phasein my life, but at the end of it I came up with my philosophy which is now the title of this text.Positive Nihilism. What does Positive Nihilism argue? Like regular existential Nihilism it argues that life is inherently without meaning, we are born for no purpose, die for no purpose and existfor no purpose.

Where it differs from the common conception of Nihilism is that it then stops and says, whilst yes life is pointless, there is nothing to stop us from creating points, meaning andenjoying a pointless existence.Existence may well be pointless, but we do exist and that is a simple fact. We're questioning existence, so we must exist or we wouldn't be thinking.The power of human intellect is to create and we can all create reason to exist, reason to move forward. One man might believe money is the ultimate reason to exist, another might believe that it'sto bring people to believe in their deity of choice.In the end, that point, that meaning isn't contained within the universe, the people themselves generate it, place it over a universe they simply are in for no particular reason.But positive nihilism argues that this pointlessness is a brilliant thing. Think about it for a moment, that idea that there's some inherent purpose to life. Would that be amazingly good oramazingly bad?

Because then the entire population would be subject to an eternal standard and objectively people could fail, there would be no personal goals, there would be only “the big picture”which we were never allowed any control of. We would be pawns of a predetermined existence, potentially failing to reach an objective and never being able to pick our own.So, in this way, pointlessness is the ultimate freedom. It views life as a blank canvas to paint with whatever shapes, colours and brushes you wish. You can live any life you want and not beinherently wrong.Two men might go through life realising that their objections with each other do not make them failures to the entire universe, they merely dislike each other and in this way, different, oppositeviews and objectives can exist in the same space.

But another reason I argue this is Positive Nihilism is that it doesn't give that somewhat depressing theme of “there's no point to anything, wemay as well die as live”.It instead argues that if life is indeed as pointless as death, but that is fine and you can still enjoy life despite or even because of it's pointlessness. However, I wish to make it very clearthat this doesn't advocate putting a big grin on your face and running around a town on a killing spree. Life may be pointless, but figuring that out hasn't changed reality, it's only changed howyou looked at it.It doesn't give you any right to end life.

If someone is still alive, they've decided they'd like to keep living their existence and in the same way that they've respected your choice to exist, itseems only fair that you respect theirs. You may well exist in a pointless world, but there are over a billion other people also here, also figuring out their own views, their own points, their ownobjectives.The framework we all operate in has been built over generations, refined and reworked for each generation of people. A collective set of objectives, rules, regulations, “norms”. We may not existfor a reason, but society does. It's a stable framework created by a human collective, allowing for points to exist, from money making to street cleaning and rule making.If there are no humans, there are no points required, really.

A plant is a plant because it's a plant. An animal eats because it needs to do so to continue existing, it doesn't need a reason.Out of all the beings presently on this planet, we appear to be the ones that reason. That's why we search for points, for meanings, for purpose.

But regardless of what we find, the sheer fact ofit all is we're still human, we still need to eat, drink, sleep. All of the basic needs. Reality is still what it is, despite it having a point or not, despite how we perceive it or what pointswe make for it.Love men, love women, wear pink, dance to work, spend all of your money collecting stamps or brush your teeth with organic-only toothpaste, you live in reality even if it is pointless. It beingpointless is something you have to come to terms with yourself, but it doesn't need to be bad, it merely means that beyond basic needs, you can select any objective you like for your existence. Youcan do anything, set any goal and attempt to achieve it.Have fun. Yes, in many ways I agree with you. If the human race ended today, over time nature would cover our footsteps.

Grass would cover our roads, buildings would turn to sand, our bones would become fossils, like those of the dinosaurs and our Gods would fade away. No memory of our entire race would exist!Then you could say that the entire existence of the Human race was indeed a pointless excercise. Thanks for your input there! I can see what you're arguing for there and it certainly would be interesting that we'd exist in some Idealist capacity, giving the universe form merely by observing it, by existing and someone, somewhere contemplating what is and what is not.I will have to respectfully disagree with you for now, however.

I truthfully, 100% believe that we were placed here for no purpose, as was everything (I believe it just happened) and as life kept doing what it needed to in a universe that happened to be. We ended up here. Intelligent, using computers, trying to understand ourselves, the universe, everything in it.Of course, it's the hardest question to answer. The universe will never engage us in dialogue, we have to find the answers ourselves and to me, this seems like the most simple and as a result, most realistic answer.I must admit to not being the hugest fan of that purpose proposed there, though. It seems too. Egotistical, in regards to humanity.

'We're needed to make the sky blue and the birds sing. We're just amazing.' Almost seems to contradict the 'life will move on' side of it all.

But then, maybe I'm misunderstanding. Did you write this? I actually have very similar views as you and I agree that when people picture nihilism they usually think that just because existence inherently has no meaning that they are not allowed to enjoy it, have feelings, or find personal meaning and value in it. I agree that nihilism is actually a positive thing in that it allows people to be 'free' to 'be'.

I mean after all when I draw a picture I do not necessarily do it for any other purpose than to please my desire to draw the picture. Check out my blog and tell me what you think? The link should be on my profile. Yes indeed, I am the original author of this work.

It's not an exhaustive piece and there are some flaws, IMO, but it's mine.In that misunderstanding of Nihilism, I think Anarchy shares a lot of similarities with it. People seem to fail to understand the liberation aspects of these ideas. But I digress.I've taken a look at your blog just now, actually and I think your writing style is quite good, you explain your ideas well and there's a minimal of typos and such.

I think, however, you may've fallen into the same area as some of the philosophers of old, which is that because something has worked for you personally it is 'right'.Hume argued for his Tabula Rasa theory with a similar 'do this and surely you'll see that it's true' approach which I noticed in one of your articles, but the problem in this instance you've predicted for someone that a personal experience can be taken to mean 'this' but actually since it's deeply personal, it could mean almost anything depending on how you wish to 'take it'. Basically, just because it's true for yourself doesn't automatically make it true for everyone else, you could've just accumulated a unique world view that gave you a particularly powerful interpretation of a sensation or idea.I hope this doesn't offend you and I don't think you're foolish for this, Hume was one of the greatest philosophers in history and he did this. Baphomet: I wouldn't say that existence is a pointless exercise and I would not say that our existence is a pointless exercise. The point is our will to live and an essence within the universe that has the will to live.

Nihilism is more about stating that existence in general has no inherent value (by and of itself), but it does have value to many people and living things.Next, I think just living to procreate is still a reason to live. I would think that nihilism would actually point out that it is ok to just pro-create 'if that makes you happy' and that it is not important to be 'intellectual'. Nihilism suggests that there is no inherent right or wrong in the universe therefore it is not exactly 'good' or 'right' to be intellectual.Last, you stated that we may eventually realize that the 'purpose' for our existence is to give the 'universe' a 'reason to exist'. This would imply that the universe has 'needs' and that it 'needs humans to exist' so that 'it' has a purpose to exist. I suppose this could be possible, but then that is not an 'objective' purpose; therefore existence itself would still be without purpose inherently. The universe 'needing' for humans to exist and then creating them is a 'created purpose'. It is not inherent.

I actually did not realize I did what you are saying. Could you point out the part that I did? I didn't mean to if I did because I believe that every experience is subjective and if I somehow gave the impression that 'if it will work for me it will work for you' I think the post came across wrong. I know in one post I said 'try to do this' and 'feel the weight lifted off of your shoulders' but I was trying to be more optomistic.

I am not sure if that is what you are talking about. I wasn't attempting to imply that a person would actually feel comfortable doing it. I was being kind of a 'philosophical salesman'.

Definition Of A Nihilist

It was just a 'go ahead and try it and you will like it' but in the back of my mind they may not actually like it. For me to imply that there is absolutely no doubt that it WILL be right for them would be wrong I agree.

Then again maybe you meant something entirely different? If so could you point it out? If you could quote it on my blog in a response to my blog that would be great too. I may've misread your wording due to my somewhat drowsy state and also, that might be why I wasn't making too much sense, it's hard to say.But yes, that was specifically the piece I was talking about.

Apologies for my. Rambling response, it comes with my chaotic mind at times.Anyway, I didn't mean to imply you'd done it in the same manner as Hume, who'd suggested if you attempt to do something he'd devised would prove his point then you'd be convinced of the accuracy of his philosophy.I merely wished to say that I felt that your suggestion of 'go ahead and try.' Might've given someone an idea of what they'd experience before they do, giving them a prior impression which colours what they actually experience.I could be entirely wrong with this, of course and maybe have my own bias against certain ways of presenting information.It's always something to take into account, our 'self'. Really enjoyed reading this, nice to know there's someone else with similar thought processes. I agree with all you wrote apart from 'this doesn't advocate putting a big grin on your face and running around a town on a killing spree' I'm not saying that's something i wish to do, i just believe that actions that affect others ultimately are pointless too.

Is Sans A Nihilist

If everyone's going to die eventually then you ending their life will make no difference, as everything they would do in their life would be meaningless anyway. Even if they have a purpose, their purpose is created to give their life meaning in a meaningless universe. So if they die at birth or live a fruitful life and live until they are 90 and then die, there is no difference, as ultimately everything you do will be forgotten.