I have, of late, Parishioners,
revisited The Big Lebowski
and I am considering Nihilism.
Nihilism is a philosophical position that argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.
The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.
Nietzsche characterized nihilism as emptying the world and especially human existence of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value.
In most contexts, Nietzsche defined the term as any philosophy that results in an apathy toward life and a poisoning of the human soul
William Shakespeare eloquently summarized the existential nihilist’s perspective when, in this famous passage near the end of Macbeth, he has Macbeth pour out his disgust for life:
Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
A 2007 article in The Guardian noted that “…in the summer of 1977, …punk’s nihilistic swagger was the most thrilling thing in England.”
