Nihilism and Existentialism

If you click below on Philosophy where it says Label, you will find my other posts on nihilism and on existentialism. I remain undecided if nihilism fueled my depression or vice versa. Since it is my life, I will now settle on my depression and my nihilism feeding on and fueling one another. I have decided nihilism can have no part in my life. Hopefully, you will see why you should do likewise.

(By the way, does Occam's Razor require the simplest answer must be a simplistic answer?)

Today's text is Nicole Becker's Existentialism & Nihilism: What’s the Difference?  and comes from The Collector's Philosophy page. This will be a long post.

First, existentialism defined and explained:

One of the first people to describe themselves as an existentialist was a man by the name of Jean-Paul Sartre. The basis of his thought can be summed up as follows: “What all existentialists have in common is the fundamental doctrine that existence precedes essence.” To put this in simpler terms– we as human beings have no predefined box that we must fit into.

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 We create meaning for our lives by the decisions we make and the paths we decide to go down. This does not mean we can do whatever we want without consequence, as the actions we take define who we are.

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 ...Existentialism tells us that we are the artists of our lives, and we are free to create our own destinies– we have no ineluctable fate. There are millions of different paths to choose from and we are not bound to a singular timeline. What a freeing thought indeed!

My mother taught me we are judged by our actions. Christianity, if not all religions, teach the same thing. Which left me susceptible to this idea of existentialism. I was not artist enough to create my own existence.

Nihilism comes now:

Nihilism is another European philosophy that arose during the 19th century when people started to become tired of the local governments and wondered what made people in power more important than your average joe. The masses also started to question religion, after philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche claimed that “God is dead”. Well, if God is dead… what has been the point of all the worship and dedication to serving said “God”? The rise of this thought process alone led many people to question the purpose of everything if we came from nothing.

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 ...Regardless of religion or science, the question “why” or “what is the point” will never have a direct answer. This is where Nihilism comes into play. The conclusion to them is that there is no purpose or answer. We are here merely to just survive and someday die. Nothing we do truly matters, as we do not know the tangible source of where we were before life and where we will go after.

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 Nihilism claims that there is no grand idea or purpose, so therefore there is no meaning to life. Life is what you make it, but don’t become too attached, because we all have the same fate: death. How uplifting! Although, it can feel liberating to accept this mindset. If nothing matters, why not have fun and do whatever you please?

And therein I say is the attraction of nihilism: it justifies our ideas and our emotions that the struggle of living that nothing matters and never will matter. I saw this with the Muncie crackheads. They hid their despair in their drug of choice. Unlike Warren Zevon, they would rather feel nothing because nothingness is better than life.

Such an easy way out, so seductive, as. I well know now. Even though I had read Nietzsche and Camus on the dangers of nihilism. That thinking did not go well. (Understatement, there.) If I had to stay alive, then I needed to find a purpose to my life. I find in this passage my stray thoughts summed up by Ms. Becker:

Existentialism comes in and says that you give meaning to your life. Regardless if we came from nothing– you are here now and that is what matters. As long as you are alive at this very moment, you can decide your fate and nobody can take that power away from you. Your grand purpose is to create a life you believe is worth living. Live as your most authentic self, without the opinions of others swaying you in different directions. When we take away the restrictions of religion or the limitations of social structures, we are only left with ourselves. Who are you when nobody’s looking? Who are you if you were born into a white box, hidden far away from the teachings of others– it’s just you and your own ideas, who are you then?

Now what meaning my life has to do with me. Others continue in their own interpretations. Horrors happen over which I had no control. I will no longer act as they did which means no more silence on my part. Silence is complicity which becomes guilt under the influence of depression. If I am living, I will stand with the living.

What will you do with yourself?