A more sophisticated interpretation of the claim might be that while truth may exist, it is inaccessible in practice, but this leaves open the problem of how the nihilist has accessed it. It may be a reasonable reply that the nihilist has not accessed truth directly, but has come to the conclusion, based on past experience, that truth is ultimately unattainable within the confines of human circumstance. Thus, since nihilists believe they have learned that truth cannot be attained in this life, they look upon the activities of those rigorously seeking truth as futile. Of course one may add that nihilism is a self fulfilling prophecy, as without making any attempts to attain the truth one is presumably less likely to find it.
Extreme versions of nihilism would maintain that the truth of logical propositions cannot be known, so the fact that nihilism leads to a contradiction isn't a problem, since contradictions are only problematic for those who accept logic. The classification of nihilism as a 'belief' can also be contested, as believing one is a nihilist would constitute believing in something and having a belief, a position incompatible with some interpretations of nihilism.
[edit] Cultural manifestations
[edit] In art
There have been various movements in art, such as surrealism and cubism, which have been criticized for touching on nihilism, and others like Dada which have embraced it openly. More generally, modern art has been criticized as nihilistic due to its often non-representative nature, as happened with the Nazi party's Degenerate art exhibit. In some Stalinist regimes, modern art is also seen as degenerative, and rules for "aesthetic realism" are forged to stop its influence over public and artist themselves.
Nihilistic themes can be found in literature and music as well. This is especially true of contemporary music and literature, where the uncertainty following what some perceive as the demise of modernism is explored in detail. Rorschach from Alan Moore's universally acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen is a borderline nihilist who says, "We are born to scrawl our own designs upon this morally blank world" and observes that existence "Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long".
[edit] Dada
The term Dada was first used during World War I, an event that precipitated the movement, which lasted from approximately 1916 to 1923. The Dada Movement began in the old town of Zürich, Switzerland known as the "Niederdorf" or "Niederdörfli," which is now sporadically inhabited by dadaist squatters. The Dadaists claimed that Dada was not an art movement, but an anti-art movement, sometimes using found objects in a manner similar to found poetry and labeling them art, thus undermining ideas of what art is and what it can be. The "anti-art" drive is thought to have stemmed from a post-war emptiness that lacked passion or meaning in life. Sometimes Dadaists paid attention to aesthetic guidelines only so they could be avoided, attempting to render their works devoid of meaning and aesthetic value. This tendency toward devaluation of art has led many to claim that Dada was an essentially nihilist movement; a destruction without creation. War and destruction had washed away peoples' mindset of creation and aesthetic.
[edit] In film
Perhaps the most commonly referenced portrayal of Nihilism in contemporary film is 1999's Fight Club, in which the unnamed narrator's disillusionment with the search for meaning in a consumerist, emasculated society results at first in the antagonist (Tyler Durden) winning him over to a philosophy of antipathy, self-mutilation, and outright animosity towards life. Durden's Nihilism is blurred, however, by the Existentialist flavor of his rebellion against society. His credo that "It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything" reflects a Sartrean insistence on the infinite responsibility of free will, while his desire for common men to rise up and overthrow the shallow values of society is remniscent of Nietzsche's discussion of master-slave morality.
A more fatalist treatment of Nihilism can be seen in the later I ♥ Huckabees, which includes Nihilism among other theories to develop the film's take on life in general. A similar use of Nihilism as a study in futility and meaninglessness can be seen in Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film Broken Flowers.
The 1998 movie The Big Lebowski written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, without treating Nihilism as a serious thematic concern, uses several Nihilist characters as comic narrative devices. Three black-clad men with German accents confront protagonist "The Dude" (Lebowski) claiming "We are Nihilists, Lebowski. We believe in nothing. Yeah, nothing." Also, upon being told that a man on a chair that is floating in a pool with a bottle of Jack Daniels next to him is a Nihilist, "The Dude" responds "Oh, that must be exhausting." This satirical treatment of Nihilists is in contrast with one of the earliest Nihilist characters in cinema, "Animal Mother" in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. Animal Mother is a machine gunner who believes victory should be the only object of war, is contemptuous of any authority other than his own, and rules by intimidation.
A more subtle reference can be found in the 1999 movie The Matrix, in which the protagonist Neo seems to continually hold this view, or is in a continual search to find meaning to life, which draws him to the group of separatists who seem to offer meaning ("What is the Matrix?"). This is hinted at early on when Neo opens Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation to the chapter "On Nihilism," where it is discovered he hides his illegal programs and money.
[edit] Notes
1. ^ Bazarov, the protagonist in the classic work Fathers and Sons written in the early 1860s by Ivan Turgenev, is quoted as saying nihilism is "just cursing", cited in Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Macmillan, 1967) Vol. 5, "Nihilism", 514 ff. This source states as follows: "On the one hand, the term is widely used to denote the doctrine that moral norms or standards cannot be justified by rational argument. On the other hand, it is widely used to denote a mood of despair over the emptiness or triviality of human existence. This double meaning appears to derive from the fact that the term was often employed in the nineteenth century by the religiously oriented as a club against atheists, atheists being regarded as ipso facto nihilists in both senses. The atheist, it was held [by the religiously oriented], would not feel bound by moral norms; consequently, he would tend to be callous or selfish, even criminal." (at p515)
2. ^ Kleiner, Fred S. and Mamiya, Christin J. (2005) . Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 12th edition, Wadsworth Publishing, page 980. Dada artists have self-characterized the artform in a way that lends easily to a characterization as nihilistic: Dada artists described the movement as "a phenomenon bursting forth in the midst of the postwar economic and moral crisis, a savior, a monster, which would lay waste to everything in its path. [It was] a systematic work of destruction and demoralization…In the end it became nothing but an act of sacrilege." Also noted in Kleiner is that Dada was "a revolt against a world that was capable of unspeakable horrors." Reason and logic had led people into the horrors of war; the only route to salvation was to reject logic and embrace anarchy and the irrational.
3. ^ a b See, for example, Phillips, Robert: "Deconstructing the Mass", in Latin Mass Magazine, Winter, 1999. The author asserts, inter alia: "For deconstructionists, not only is there no truth to know, there is no self to know it and so there is no soul to save or lose." and "In following the Enlightenment to its logical end, deconstruction reaches nihilism. The meaning of human life is reduced to whatever happens to interest us at the moment ..." [1]
4. ^ For some examples of the view that postmodernity is a nihilistic epoch see Toynbee, Arnold (1963) A Study of History vols. VIII and IX; Mills, C. Wright (1959) The Sociological Imagination; Bell, Daniel (1976) The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism; and Baudrillard, Jean (1993) "Game with Vestiges" in Baudrillard Live, ed. Mike Gane and (1994) "On Nihilism" in Simulacra and Simulation, trans. Sheila Faria Glasser. For examples of the view that postmodernism is a nihilistic mode of thought, see Rose, Gillian (1984) Dialectic of Nihilism; Carr, Karen L. (1988) The Banalization of Nihilism; and Pope John-Paul II (1995), Evangelium vitae: Il valore e l’inviolabilita delta vita umana. Milan: Paoline Editoriale Libri.", all cited in Woodward, Ashley: NIHILISM AND THE POSTMODERN IN VATTIMO'S NIETZSCHE, ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 6, 2002, fn 1. [2]
5. ^ See, for example, Christian Research Institute's, "THE POSTMODERN CHALLENGE: Facing the Spirit of the Age" by Jim Leffel and Dennis McCallum, refers inter alia to "...the nihilism and loneliness of postmodern culture..." [3]
6. ^ a b c d Steven Michels - Nietzsche, Nihilism, and the Virtue of Nature, Dogma, 2004,
7. ^ a b Cline, Austin.: "Nihilism, Nihilists, and Nihilistic Philosophy," at About.com (2007) [4]
8. ^ Korab-Karpowicz, W. J.: "Martin Heidegger," in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2006) [5]
9. ^ Rosen, Stanley. Nihilism: A Philosophical Essay. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1969. p. xiii.
10. ^ The Will to Power, 12b
11. ^ Borginho, Jose 1999; Nihilism and Affirmation; Accessed 05-12-07
12. ^ Spivak, Chakravorty Gayatri; 1988; Can The Subaltern Speak?; in Nelson, Cary and Grossberg, Lawrence (eds); 1988; Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture; Macmillan Education, Basingstoke
13. ^ Reynolds, Jack; 2001; The Other of Derridean Deconstruction: Levinas, Phenomenology and the Question of Responsibility; Minerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy 5: 31–62. Accessed 05-12-07
[edit] References
* Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* Nietzsche, Friedrich (1886). Beyond Good and Evil. Project Gutenberg eText.
* Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science
* Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spake Zarathustra. Project Gutenberg eText.
* Nietzsche: Nihilism (Volume IV), Martin Heidegger, Harper & Row, San Francisco, CA, 1982.
* Nihilism, The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, Eugene (Fr. Seraphim) Rose, Fr. Seraphim Rose Foundation, Forestville, CA, 1994,1995.
* Martin Heidegger and European Nihilism, Karl Löwith, Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1995.
* Nihilism Before Nietzsche, Michael Allen Gillespie, University Of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1996.
* Nihilism: A Philosophical Essay, Stanley Rosen, St. Augustine's Press (2nd Edition), South Bend, Indiana, 2000.
* Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture from The Exorcist to Seinfeld, Thomas S. Hibbs, Spence Publishing Company, Dallas, TX, 2000.
* Genealogy of Nihilism: Philosophies of Nothing & the Difference of Theology, Conor Cunningham, Routledge, New York, NY, 2002.
* Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism, John Marmysz, SUNY Press, Albany, NY, 2003.
* I Wish I Could Believe in Meaning: A Response to Nihilism, Peter S. Williams.
* Nihilism and the Sublime Postmodern: The (Hi)Story of a Difficult Relationship, Will Slocombe, Routledge, New York, NY, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] Philosophical positions
* Anti-realism
* Anarchism
* Contextualism
* Cosmicism
* Cynicism
* Expressionism
* Materialism
* Metaphysical nihilism
* Moral nihilism
* Pessimism
* Post-structuralism
[edit] Individuals
* Ray Brassier
* E.M. Cioran
* Paul Feyerabend
* Edvard Munch
* Luigi Pirandello
* Elisha Shapiro
* Max Stirner
* Ivan Turgenev
* Gianni Vattimo
[edit] Miscellaneous
* Nihilist movement
* Therapeutic nihilism
* Darth Nihilus from Knights of the old republic
[edit] External links
Look up nihilism in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
* Catholic Encyclopedia: Nihilism
* Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Nihilism
* Center for Nihilist and Nihilism Studies
* American Nihilist Underground Society
* "Elisha Shapiro's ongoing conceptual art exploration of Nihilism"
* Nihilism's Home Page: "Exiting The Circus Of Values"
* "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev, the first novel about Nihilism.
* "Nihilism, Modernism, and Value" by John Fraser
* "Modernity and Nihilism"—A religious ethicist's argument that secular history and modernity represent Nihilism
* "Nihilism and the Postmodern in Vattimo's Nietzsche", Ashley Woodward
* "Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st Century"
* "Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age" by Fr. Seraphim (Eugene) Rose
[hide]
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Extreme versions of nihilism would maintain that the truth of logical propositions cannot be known, so the fact that nihilism leads to a contradiction isn't a problem, since contradictions are only problematic for those who accept logic. The classification of nihilism as a 'belief' can also be contested, as believing one is a nihilist would constitute believing in something and having a belief, a position incompatible with some interpretations of nihilism.
[edit] Cultural manifestations
[edit] In art
There have been various movements in art, such as surrealism and cubism, which have been criticized for touching on nihilism, and others like Dada which have embraced it openly. More generally, modern art has been criticized as nihilistic due to its often non-representative nature, as happened with the Nazi party's Degenerate art exhibit. In some Stalinist regimes, modern art is also seen as degenerative, and rules for "aesthetic realism" are forged to stop its influence over public and artist themselves.
Nihilistic themes can be found in literature and music as well. This is especially true of contemporary music and literature, where the uncertainty following what some perceive as the demise of modernism is explored in detail. Rorschach from Alan Moore's universally acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen is a borderline nihilist who says, "We are born to scrawl our own designs upon this morally blank world" and observes that existence "Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long".
[edit] Dada
The term Dada was first used during World War I, an event that precipitated the movement, which lasted from approximately 1916 to 1923. The Dada Movement began in the old town of Zürich, Switzerland known as the "Niederdorf" or "Niederdörfli," which is now sporadically inhabited by dadaist squatters. The Dadaists claimed that Dada was not an art movement, but an anti-art movement, sometimes using found objects in a manner similar to found poetry and labeling them art, thus undermining ideas of what art is and what it can be. The "anti-art" drive is thought to have stemmed from a post-war emptiness that lacked passion or meaning in life. Sometimes Dadaists paid attention to aesthetic guidelines only so they could be avoided, attempting to render their works devoid of meaning and aesthetic value. This tendency toward devaluation of art has led many to claim that Dada was an essentially nihilist movement; a destruction without creation. War and destruction had washed away peoples' mindset of creation and aesthetic.
[edit] In film
Perhaps the most commonly referenced portrayal of Nihilism in contemporary film is 1999's Fight Club, in which the unnamed narrator's disillusionment with the search for meaning in a consumerist, emasculated society results at first in the antagonist (Tyler Durden) winning him over to a philosophy of antipathy, self-mutilation, and outright animosity towards life. Durden's Nihilism is blurred, however, by the Existentialist flavor of his rebellion against society. His credo that "It is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything" reflects a Sartrean insistence on the infinite responsibility of free will, while his desire for common men to rise up and overthrow the shallow values of society is remniscent of Nietzsche's discussion of master-slave morality.
A more fatalist treatment of Nihilism can be seen in the later I ♥ Huckabees, which includes Nihilism among other theories to develop the film's take on life in general. A similar use of Nihilism as a study in futility and meaninglessness can be seen in Jim Jarmusch's 2005 film Broken Flowers.
The 1998 movie The Big Lebowski written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, without treating Nihilism as a serious thematic concern, uses several Nihilist characters as comic narrative devices. Three black-clad men with German accents confront protagonist "The Dude" (Lebowski) claiming "We are Nihilists, Lebowski. We believe in nothing. Yeah, nothing." Also, upon being told that a man on a chair that is floating in a pool with a bottle of Jack Daniels next to him is a Nihilist, "The Dude" responds "Oh, that must be exhausting." This satirical treatment of Nihilists is in contrast with one of the earliest Nihilist characters in cinema, "Animal Mother" in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. Animal Mother is a machine gunner who believes victory should be the only object of war, is contemptuous of any authority other than his own, and rules by intimidation.
A more subtle reference can be found in the 1999 movie The Matrix, in which the protagonist Neo seems to continually hold this view, or is in a continual search to find meaning to life, which draws him to the group of separatists who seem to offer meaning ("What is the Matrix?"). This is hinted at early on when Neo opens Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation to the chapter "On Nihilism," where it is discovered he hides his illegal programs and money.
[edit] Notes
1. ^ Bazarov, the protagonist in the classic work Fathers and Sons written in the early 1860s by Ivan Turgenev, is quoted as saying nihilism is "just cursing", cited in Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Macmillan, 1967) Vol. 5, "Nihilism", 514 ff. This source states as follows: "On the one hand, the term is widely used to denote the doctrine that moral norms or standards cannot be justified by rational argument. On the other hand, it is widely used to denote a mood of despair over the emptiness or triviality of human existence. This double meaning appears to derive from the fact that the term was often employed in the nineteenth century by the religiously oriented as a club against atheists, atheists being regarded as ipso facto nihilists in both senses. The atheist, it was held [by the religiously oriented], would not feel bound by moral norms; consequently, he would tend to be callous or selfish, even criminal." (at p515)
2. ^ Kleiner, Fred S. and Mamiya, Christin J. (2005) . Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 12th edition, Wadsworth Publishing, page 980. Dada artists have self-characterized the artform in a way that lends easily to a characterization as nihilistic: Dada artists described the movement as "a phenomenon bursting forth in the midst of the postwar economic and moral crisis, a savior, a monster, which would lay waste to everything in its path. [It was] a systematic work of destruction and demoralization…In the end it became nothing but an act of sacrilege." Also noted in Kleiner is that Dada was "a revolt against a world that was capable of unspeakable horrors." Reason and logic had led people into the horrors of war; the only route to salvation was to reject logic and embrace anarchy and the irrational.
3. ^ a b See, for example, Phillips, Robert: "Deconstructing the Mass", in Latin Mass Magazine, Winter, 1999. The author asserts, inter alia: "For deconstructionists, not only is there no truth to know, there is no self to know it and so there is no soul to save or lose." and "In following the Enlightenment to its logical end, deconstruction reaches nihilism. The meaning of human life is reduced to whatever happens to interest us at the moment ..." [1]
4. ^ For some examples of the view that postmodernity is a nihilistic epoch see Toynbee, Arnold (1963) A Study of History vols. VIII and IX; Mills, C. Wright (1959) The Sociological Imagination; Bell, Daniel (1976) The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism; and Baudrillard, Jean (1993) "Game with Vestiges" in Baudrillard Live, ed. Mike Gane and (1994) "On Nihilism" in Simulacra and Simulation, trans. Sheila Faria Glasser. For examples of the view that postmodernism is a nihilistic mode of thought, see Rose, Gillian (1984) Dialectic of Nihilism; Carr, Karen L. (1988) The Banalization of Nihilism; and Pope John-Paul II (1995), Evangelium vitae: Il valore e l’inviolabilita delta vita umana. Milan: Paoline Editoriale Libri.", all cited in Woodward, Ashley: NIHILISM AND THE POSTMODERN IN VATTIMO'S NIETZSCHE, ISSN 1393-614X Minerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 6, 2002, fn 1. [2]
5. ^ See, for example, Christian Research Institute's, "THE POSTMODERN CHALLENGE: Facing the Spirit of the Age" by Jim Leffel and Dennis McCallum, refers inter alia to "...the nihilism and loneliness of postmodern culture..." [3]
6. ^ a b c d Steven Michels - Nietzsche, Nihilism, and the Virtue of Nature, Dogma, 2004,
7. ^ a b Cline, Austin.: "Nihilism, Nihilists, and Nihilistic Philosophy," at About.com (2007) [4]
8. ^ Korab-Karpowicz, W. J.: "Martin Heidegger," in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2006) [5]
9. ^ Rosen, Stanley. Nihilism: A Philosophical Essay. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1969. p. xiii.
10. ^ The Will to Power, 12b
11. ^ Borginho, Jose 1999; Nihilism and Affirmation; Accessed 05-12-07
12. ^ Spivak, Chakravorty Gayatri; 1988; Can The Subaltern Speak?; in Nelson, Cary and Grossberg, Lawrence (eds); 1988; Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture; Macmillan Education, Basingstoke
13. ^ Reynolds, Jack; 2001; The Other of Derridean Deconstruction: Levinas, Phenomenology and the Question of Responsibility; Minerva - An Internet Journal of Philosophy 5: 31–62. Accessed 05-12-07
[edit] References
* Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* Nietzsche, Friedrich (1886). Beyond Good and Evil. Project Gutenberg eText.
* Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science
* Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spake Zarathustra. Project Gutenberg eText.
* Nietzsche: Nihilism (Volume IV), Martin Heidegger, Harper & Row, San Francisco, CA, 1982.
* Nihilism, The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age, Eugene (Fr. Seraphim) Rose, Fr. Seraphim Rose Foundation, Forestville, CA, 1994,1995.
* Martin Heidegger and European Nihilism, Karl Löwith, Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1995.
* Nihilism Before Nietzsche, Michael Allen Gillespie, University Of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1996.
* Nihilism: A Philosophical Essay, Stanley Rosen, St. Augustine's Press (2nd Edition), South Bend, Indiana, 2000.
* Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture from The Exorcist to Seinfeld, Thomas S. Hibbs, Spence Publishing Company, Dallas, TX, 2000.
* Genealogy of Nihilism: Philosophies of Nothing & the Difference of Theology, Conor Cunningham, Routledge, New York, NY, 2002.
* Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism, John Marmysz, SUNY Press, Albany, NY, 2003.
* I Wish I Could Believe in Meaning: A Response to Nihilism, Peter S. Williams.
* Nihilism and the Sublime Postmodern: The (Hi)Story of a Difficult Relationship, Will Slocombe, Routledge, New York, NY, 2006.
[edit] See also
[edit] Philosophical positions
* Anti-realism
* Anarchism
* Contextualism
* Cosmicism
* Cynicism
* Expressionism
* Materialism
* Metaphysical nihilism
* Moral nihilism
* Pessimism
* Post-structuralism
[edit] Individuals
* Ray Brassier
* E.M. Cioran
* Paul Feyerabend
* Edvard Munch
* Luigi Pirandello
* Elisha Shapiro
* Max Stirner
* Ivan Turgenev
* Gianni Vattimo
[edit] Miscellaneous
* Nihilist movement
* Therapeutic nihilism
* Darth Nihilus from Knights of the old republic
[edit] External links
Look up nihilism in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
* Catholic Encyclopedia: Nihilism
* Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Nihilism
* Center for Nihilist and Nihilism Studies
* American Nihilist Underground Society
* "Elisha Shapiro's ongoing conceptual art exploration of Nihilism"
* Nihilism's Home Page: "Exiting The Circus Of Values"
* "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev, the first novel about Nihilism.
* "Nihilism, Modernism, and Value" by John Fraser
* "Modernity and Nihilism"—A religious ethicist's argument that secular history and modernity represent Nihilism
* "Nihilism and the Postmodern in Vattimo's Nietzsche", Ashley Woodward
* "Nihilism, Anarchy, and the 21st Century"
* "Nihilism: The Root of the Revolution of the Modern Age" by Fr. Seraphim (Eugene) Rose
[hide]
v • d • e
Philosophy
Eastern philosophy · Western philosophy
History Ancient (Buddhist • Chinese • Greek • Hellenistic • Hindu • Indian • Iranian) · Medieval (Christian • Islamic • Jewish) · Modern · Contemporary
Lists Basic topics · Topic list · Philosophers · Philosophies · Glossary · Movements · More lists
Branches Aesthetics · Ethics · Epistemology · Logic · Metaphysics
Philosophy of Action · Education · Economics · Geography · Information · Healthcare · History · Human nature · Humor · Language · Law · Literature · Mathematics · Mind · Music · Philosophy · Physics · Politics · Psychology · Religion · Science · Social science · Technology · War
Schools Analytic · Aristotelianism · Ash'ari · Avicennism · Averroism · Continental · Critical Theory · Cynicism · Deconstructionism · Deontology · Dialectical materialism · Dualism · Empiricism · Epicureanism · Existentialism · Hegelianism · Hermeneutics · Humanism · Idealism · Illuminationism · Kantianism · Liberalism · Logical positivism · Marxism · Materialism · Monism · Mu'tazili · Neoplatonism · New Philosophers · Nihilism · Objectivism · Ontology · Ordinary language · Phenomenology · Platonism · Positivism · Postmodernism · Poststructuralism · Pragmatism · Presocratic · Quietism · Rationalism · Realism · Relativism · Scholasticism · Skepticism · Stoicism · Structuralism · Utilitarianism · Virtue ethics
I have seen and experienced what extreme pessimism and negativity can do to someone. I believe it can eventually ruin someone, easily. Even a false positive belief or messages or practice that feels uncomfortable can eventually lead to a brighter more happier, more healthy disposition. It takes some dedication and then magic just happens on its own.
ReplyDeletePessimism might have it's roots in the word pess or to pester. Thoughts which pester.
ReplyDeleteThe main equalizer that I see is the value that is obvious about a person, which can remain in mostly silent virtue and may be silently esteemed.
ReplyDeleteExtreme pessimism is the most dirrect route torwards alcoholism.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that negativity does more than make us negative. It seems to become an actual mental state in which the individual is blind to being in it.
ReplyDeletePeople say they are not negative and often nobody will let them know and they continue in the delusion down the path that is dangerous. You need to see sign clearly at least in yourself that there is real positive within you. It must be known to you!!!
ReplyDeleteI think it would be nice if their were laws that required people to get help if they became too pessimistic.
ReplyDeleteI can feel this way. I hate the feeling that shit is just building on me. So spazzing out can work wonders.
ReplyDeleteA shock of sorts is worth it to not be in darker more serious mind places, oh what a terrible waste.
ReplyDeletePessimism is the worst form of narsisism. Especially if you don't live with tyranny there is plenty to be grateful about.
ReplyDeleteBeing tricked and conned is a serious attack to one's spiritual life. This is for money usually.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy for men to lose trust in men in general in my culture. It seems that only people from a team sport or something know about the spirit of being on a team otherwise it can feel like a jungle out there.
ReplyDeleteVery pervasive in today's environment of fear and internet addiction. How can we love others when we are up to our neck modern stuff. Nature is being put to the test. We are the crash test dummies. We are willing to go for the ride it seems. Shadows and all.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is easy to see how we sink into the negative. Wise folk don't call this a normal state of mind ever.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt people who get caught on the power principle can become focused on pessimism as if it can work with some powerful force. By that logic there is a good use for pessimism. NOT
ReplyDeleteNothing is so bad that a negative view on reality should be adopted.
ReplyDelete