Nihilism

Nihilism is the systematic negation or rejection of meaning and, thus, value. The foundational negation, the nothing, is the operative logic of nihilism. To say that something has meaning is to say it has[Page 1262] value; whether ideas, objects, monetary systems, or ideologies, the process of conveying meaning is synonymous with the process of conveying value. The rejection of meaning is implicitly the rejection of value. Understanding what it means to exist is fissured and impossible according to nihilistic thought. This is not confined to ontology, or what it means to be but rather extends to the impossibility of there being truth, a truth, or truths. This entry presents a review of the nature and history of nihilism and concludes with observations of its relevance ...