Nihilism 

(/ˈnaɪ(h)ɪlɪzəm, ˈniː-/; from Latin nihil 'nothing') is a philosophy, or family of views within

philosophy, expressing some form of negation towards life[1][2] or towards fundamental concepts such
as knowledge, existence, and the meaning of life.[3] Different nihilist positions hold variously
that human values are baseless, that life is meaningless, that knowledge is impossible, or that some
set of entities does not exist.[4][5]
The study of nihilism may regard it as merely a label that has been applied to various separate
philosophies,[6] or as a distinct historical concept arising out of nominalism, skepticism,
and philosophical pessimism, as well as possibly out of Christianity itself.[7] Contemporary
understanding of the idea stems largely from the Nietzschean 'crisis of nihilism', from which derives
the two central concepts: the destruction of higher values and the opposition to the affirmation of life.
[8][4]
 Earlier forms of nihilism however, may be more selective in negating specific hegemonies of
social, moral, political and aesthetic thought.[9] Beyond Europe, elements of Buddhist scripture have
been identified as among the earliest discourses and critiques of nihilistic thought.
The term is sometimes used in association with anomie to explain the general mood of despair at a
perceived pointlessness of existence or arbitrariness of human principles and social institutions.
Nihilism has also been described as conspicuous in or constitutive of certain historical periods. For
example,[10] Jean Baudrillard[11][12] and others have characterized postmodernity as a nihilistic
epoch[13] or mode of thought.[14] Likewise, some theologians and religious figures have stated that
postmodernity[15] and many aspects of modernity[16] represent nihilism by a negation of religious
principles. Nihilism has, however, been widely ascribed to both religious and irreligious viewpoints.[17]
In popular use, the term commonly refers to forms of existential nihilism, according to which life is
without intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose.[18] Other prominent positions within nihilism include the
rejection of all normative and ethical views (§ Moral nihilism), the rejection of all social and political
institutions (§ Political nihilism), the stance that no knowledge can or does exist (§ Epistemological
nihilism), and a number of metaphysical positions, which assert that non-abstract objects do not
exist (§ Metaphysical nihilism), that composite objects do not exist (§ Mereological nihilism), or even
that life itself does not exist.

Etymology, terminology and definition[edit]

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2020)

The etymological origin of nihilism is the Latin root word nihil, meaning 'nothing', which is similarly
found in the related terms annihilate, meaning 'to bring to nothing',[4] and nihility, meaning
'nothingness'.[19] The term nihilism emerged in several places in Europe during the 18th century,
[6]
 notably in the German form Nihilismus,[20] though was also in use during the Middle Ages to denote
certain forms of heresy.[21] The concept itself first took shape within Russian and German philosophy,
which respectively represented the two major currents of discourse on nihilism prior to the 20th
century.[20] The term likely entered English from either the German Nihilismus, Late Latin nihilismus,
or French nihilisme.[22]
Early examples of the term's use are found in German publication. In 1733, German writer Friedrich
Lebrecht Goetz used it as a literary term in combination with noism (German: Neinismus).[23] In the
period surrounding the French Revolution, the term was also a pejorative for certain value-
destructive trends of modernity, namely the negation of Christianity and European tradition in
general.[6] Nihilism first entered philosophical study within a discourse surrounding Kantian and post-
Kantian philosophies, notably appearing in the writings of Swiss esotericist Jacob Hermann Obereit
in 1787 and German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi in 1799.[24] As early as 1824, the term
began to take on a social connotation with German journalist Joseph von Görres attributing it to a
negation of existing social and political institutions.[25] The Russian form of the
word, nigilizm (Russian: нигилизм), entered publication in 1829 when Nikolai Nadezhdin used it
synonymously with skepticism. In Russian journalism the word continued to have significant social
connotations.[26]
From the time of Jacobi, the term almost fell completely out of use throughout Europe until it was
revived by Russian author Ivan Turgenev, who brought the word into popular use with his 1862
novel Fathers and Sons, leading many scholars to believe he coined the term.[27] The nihilist
characters of the novel define themselves as those who "deny everything", who do "not take any
principle on faith, whatever reverence that principle may be enshrined in", and who regard "at the
present time, negation is the most useful of all".[28] Despite Turgenev's own anti-nihilistic leanings,
many of his readers likewise took up the name of nihilist, thus ascribing the Russian nihilist
movement its name.[29] Returning to German philosophy, nihilism was further discussed by German
philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who used the term to describe the Western world's disintegration of
traditional morality.[30] For Nietzsche, nihilism applied to both the modern trends of value-destruction
expressed in the 'death of God', as well as what he saw as the life-denying morality of Christianity.[31]
[32]
 Under Nietzsche's profound influence, the term was then further treated within French
philosophy and continental philosophy more broadly, while the influence of nihilism in Russia
arguably continued well into the Soviet era.[33]
Religious scholars such as Altizer have stated that nihilism must necessarily be understood in
relation to religion, and that the study of core elements of its character requires
fundamentally theological consideration.[34]