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Are atheists Nihilists? (Based on the following)?
Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history. In the 20th century, nihilistic themes–epistemological failure, value destruction, and cosmic purposelessness–have preoccupied artists, social critics, and philosophers. Mid-century, for example, the existentialists helped popularize tenets of nihilism in their attempts to blunt its destructive potential. By the end of the century, existential despair as a response to nihilism gave way to an attitude of indifference, often associated with antifoundationalism.
Latin nihil, or nothing, which means not anything, that which does not exist. It appears in the verb “annihilate,” meaning to bring to nothing, to destroy completely. Early in the nineteenth century,
24 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
No. I'm an atheist, not a nihilist. I don't believe in gods. That doesn't mean I don't believe in anything. The difference is clear to me. If you are unable to grasp it, then I'm sorry, but I've reached just about my frozen limit on telling people what atheism is NOT.
- Sun is Shining ❂Lv 71 decade ago
No. Nihilism is a philosophical belief. Some atheists are nihilists, but not all are. Not by a long way. For the record, I believe Nietzsche was insane.
Source(s): I have a degree in Philosophy, for what it's worth.......... - Anonymous1 decade ago
Atheists do not believe in God. Without God there is nothing at all. A philosophically consistent atheist would be a nihilist, and nihilism is the final end of atheism if we allow it to grow unchecked.
An atheist who acts as though anything is valuable is acting as though God exists. Actions speak louder than words, so you can ignore the so-called atheists who object to being called nihilists. If they were real atheists, they would not have bothered to object.
- 1 decade ago
Some atheists are nihilists. But being atheist means nothing more or less than not believing any gods exist. Anything beyond that doesn't belong in the definition, and any observations beyond that can only be statistical, not universal.
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- CoreyLv 71 decade ago
No. All atheism means is not believing any gods exist. While some atheists might be nihilists, atheism does not imply nihilism.
- ?Lv 71 decade ago
Nihilism, if routine, is mental dysfunction.
Negation of one's own thoughts about being, one's own values of being, completely ruins frontal lobe processing, reasoning skills. As one person once put it, Nihilism is next to extinction.
Source(s): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLU4_SPUrRk - Anonymous1 decade ago
I am a nihilist. "Meaning" is just a word humans place on things that give them an emotional reaction
- Anonymous1 decade ago
I pretty much am.
All we care about, all we love , all we virtuously up hold is, all our concepts of what it is to be human are fundamentally bullshit and will be forgotten by an indifferent universe.
But I am too busy being alive to go round moping about it and wearing black( BLACK LIKE MY SOUL!!!!).
- Anonymous1 decade ago
All philosophy is meaningless garbage. Philosophy is a totally pointless excercise which never resolves anything. Philosophy should cease to be taught in universities as we should be training the minds of the young in more useful directions. So take your nihilism and shove it.
- ?Lv 61 decade ago
Atheists in general do not believe that all values are baseless. If you take the time to observe them objectively, you will find that most atheists are very moral people.
