nihilism

Wikipedia

See also Nihilism

English

Etymology

From German Nihilismus, itself from Latin nihil (“nil, nothing”) + German -ismus '-ism', coined in 1817 by German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, but repeatedly 'reinvented'.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈnaɪ(h)ɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/, /ˈnɪhɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/, /ˈniː(h)ɨ̞lɪz(ə)m/
• (U.S.) IPA: /ˈnaɪəˌlɪz(ə)m/, /ˈniəˌlɪz(ə)m/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

nihilism (uncountable)

1. (philosophy) Extreme skepticism, maintaining that nothing has a real existence.
2. (ethics) The rejection of all moral principles.
3. (politics) (capitalized by protagonist Turgenev) A Russian anarchistic revolutionary doctrine (1860-1917) holding that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake, independent of any constructive program or possibility.
4. The belief that all endeavors are ultimately futile and devoid of meaning.

   "...the band members sweat hard enough to earn their pretensions, and maybe even their nihilism" (rock critic Dave Marsh, reviewing the band XTC's album Go)

5. Contradiction (not always deliberate) between behavior and espoused principle, to such a degree that all possible espoused principle is voided.
6. The deliberate refusal of belief, to the point that belief itself is rejected as untenable.

Derived terms

• nihilist
• nihilistic

Related terms

• annihilate
• nihility
• nil

Synonyms

• (belief all endeavours are void) fatalism

Translations

extreme philosophical scepticism

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虛無主義 (cmn), 虚无主义 (cmn) (xūwúzhǔyì)

• Czech: nihilizmus (cs) m
• Dutch: nihilisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: nihilismo (eo)
• Finnish: nihilismi (fi)
• German: Nihilismus (de) m
• Greek: μηδενισμός (el) (mithenismós) m

• Hebrew: נִיהִילִיזם (he) (nihilizem) m
• Italian: nichilismo (it) m
• Lower Sorbian: nihilismus m
• Polish: nihilizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: niilismo (pt) m
• Russian: нигилизм (ru) (nigilízm) m
• Serbo-Croatian: nihilizam (sh) m
• Spanish: nihilismo (es)
• Turkish: nihilizm (tr), hiççilik (tr)

Russian anarchistic doctrine

• Dutch: Nihilisme n

• Russian: нигилизм (ru) (nigilízm) m

rejection of all moral principles

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虛無主義 (cmn), 虚无主义 (cmn) (xūwúzhǔyì)

• Czech: nihilizmus (cs) m
• Dutch: (ethisch) nihilisme n
• Finnish: nihilismi (fi)
• German: Nihilismus (de) m

• Greek: μηδενισμός (el) (mithenismós) m
• Italian: nichilismo (it) m
• Lower Sorbian: nihilismus m
• Polish: nihilizm (pl) m
• Russian: нигилизм (ru) (nigilízm) m
• Serbo-Croatian: nihilizam (sh) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: nihilisme

• Hebrew: ניהיליזם (nihilizem)

External links

• nihilism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• nihilism in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911