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Philosophy vocabulary · Schools and Movements

Nihilism

Meaning in philosophy, with examples

/ˈnaɪɪlɪzəm/nounCommon term

In philosophy, nihilism means: The view that life has no meaning, value or purpose, or more narrowly that there are no moral truths or no knowledge at all.

In Turkish: nihilizm, hiççilik

How it is used

Philosophers separate existential nihilism (life is meaningless), moral nihilism (nothing is right or wrong) and epistemological nihilism. Nietzsche is often linked to nihilism, but he described it as a crisis to be overcome, not as his own position.

Example sentences

  1. Nietzsche saw the decline of religious belief as opening the door to nihilism.

  2. Moral nihilism says that no action is really right or wrong.

Common collocations

  • moral nihilism
  • existential nihilism
  • overcome nihilism
  • slide into nihilism
  • existentialismA philosophical movement centered on individual existence, freedom and choice, holding that people create meaning through how they live rather than finding it ready-made.
  • will to powerNietzsche's idea that a basic drive of living things is to grow, overcome resistance and express their strength, not merely to survive or seek pleasure.
  • relativismThe view that truth, knowledge or moral rightness is not absolute but depends on a culture, a person or a framework.
  • moral realismThe metaethical view that there are objective moral facts, which hold independently of what any person or culture believes about them.

More terms: Schools and Movements

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