Nhilism

[Faceless]

So, what is it? Do they believe that a partial destruction of society could be a cleansing force as oppose to total annihilation but still be nihilist? Can they have a belief in political/economic doctrines to make society that little less bad? Are you one?

[Dhul Fiqar]

I have been , and sometimes still am, a nihilist.

Basically - it is the contention that "nothing is true" - the belief in nothing. In itself it is a bit of a contradiction - but that is the beauty of it. It closes the endless loop of thought and possibility that comes with absolute relativism - and ends it in a beautiful crescendo of "it doesn't really matter and in the end I don't give a fuck".

It can be extremely liberating or extremely destructive depending on how you approach it.

--- G.

[Danton]

Sometimes I think total annihilation is the only way... And I think it will happen..

[redstar2000]

I'm told that the most salient text is a 19th century Russian novel called What is to be Done? by Nikolay Chernyshevsky.

I haven't read it myself (it's on my list!), but it is said to have been the most influential work on the mind of the young Lenin...so much so that he copied the title for his own famous work.

I don't know if there's a text on the internet; public libraries probably won't have it. I will get it from a university library on inter-library loan.

http://anarchist-action.org/forums/images/smiles/redstar.gif

The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas

[187]

www.counterorder.com

Very interesting site.

[Mr Mojo Risin]

has anyone seen the Big Lebowski?

'Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos. '

[Rastafari]

Originally posted by Dhul [email protected] 15 2003, 05:44 PM
I have been , and sometimes still am, a nihilist.

sounds tiring.

[Danton]

has anyone seen the Big Lebowski?

"Shut the fuck up Donnie!"

[Dhul Fiqar]

Danton: You are out of your element.

--- G.

[Palmares]

I know there is two fundamental versions of 'nihilism'; political nihilism (related to anarchism); and philosophical nihilism.

I think nihilism can be good, but it sometimes appears to be 'on the edge'.

'Don't give a fuck' sounds good though (not absolutely mind you). :blink:

[Alejandro C]

Originally posted by Dhul [email protected] 29 2003, 11:47 AM
Danton: You are out of your element.

--- G.
he thinks the carpet pissers did this?

[Rastafari]

thats just, like, your opinion, man

[Alejandro C]

Originally posted by Rastafari+Oct 28 2003, 06:58 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Rastafari @ Oct 28 2003, 06:58 PM)
Dhul [email protected] 15 2003, 05:44 PM
I have been , and sometimes still am, a nihilist.

sounds tiring. [/b]
MUST BE EXHAUSTING

[Dhul Fiqar]

It is.

--- G.

[Faceless]

Anyone who can live without the lie drug is a true nihilist. A nihilist can interface reality and all it&#39;s beauty and unpleasant consequences with their personal sense of the tangible because the two are the same.

It is the nature of a broken man to seek answers. Likewise as civilization disintegrates and society fragments, spreading discontent and angst seeks solutions. From the prophet to the saviour neither stays in business long during times of wellness. Much like vultures they prosper during periods of decay and profit from sickness. And unto them Jesus said: "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick..." Matthew 9:12. Always subversion before conversion.

Subversion may be inevitable but what one converts to is not. Anyone living exposed to the post-modern pop pseudo-culture is diseased; we&#39;re all victims of this pernicious corrosion. Your reality is based on monstrous lies and disingenuous parables. Laws are capricious and their enforcement more so. Such pseudo-justice is merely a convenient performance intended to dupe the public into believing that law and order protect them. Realize more than anything else, power and its corollary abuse makes the world go round. The nihilist knows this, they have progressed beyond this myth, beyond right and wrong. Justice is just power, present moral-legal framework is a myth and if you expect fairness you&#39;ll be burned.

This is from the counter-order website (www.counterorder.com/nihilist.html (http://www.counterorder.com/nihilist.html)) and seems to me to be more than just the rejection of belief but also the allowance of hope, justice, equality etc. and thus a nihilist can surely not be communist as this requires some hope in something better. Do I misunderstand?

[Dhul Fiqar]

There is more than one degree of being a nihilist.

Basically the problem for non-Nihilists is this: if nothing matters - why do anything?

I would counter: If nothing matters - why not do EVERYTHING?

--- G.

[Faceless]

<_<

Basically the problem for non-Nihilists is this: if nothing matters - why do anything?

I would counter: If nothing matters - why not do EVERYTHING? It isn&#39;t my problem. What I mean is, whilst I can acknowledge that, why try to change things for the better (I&#39;m presuming you are a Communist). Being Communist and being nihilist seem to me to be mutually exclusive. A nihilist thinks that nothing can be changed for the better and a Communist believes it can be. Anyway, sorry I&#39;m taking so long between posts.

[honest intellectual]

The word has several meanings. The &#39;belief in nothing&#39; is quite different from Chernechevsky&#39;s belief, which was that nothing of the Tsarist sytem should be retained. Obviously, it&#39;s from the Latin nihil, meaning nothing. Nothingism.
Gotta go now, but I&#39;ll elaborate later........


Are these Nazis?
No, these men are nihilists, Donnie. You have nothing to worry about.

[honest intellectual]

Yeah, so Chernechevsky believed that the Tsarist Russia should be completely destroyed and a new society started from scratch. Lenin liked to call himself a nihilist in this sense of the word, but he really wasn&#39;t (he kept the basic structure of the army, he allowed the church to continue etc.)

Philosophical nihilism is indeed, all about not giving a fuck. (Which is where The Big Lebowski falls apart, if they&#39;re so nihilistic, why are they after "a million dollars"? Anyway, I suppose it&#39;s not meant to completely make sense) It&#39;s a rejection of religion, of ethics, of self-preservation of any meaning to life.
"MACBETH - Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."