I think Nihilism is a consequence of religion, in which all values are assigned or 'created' from god rather than man themselves. Consequently no god=no values or meaning. This however, is a deeply literal interpretation of nihilism in which all meaning is lost. learning to develop ethical and existential ideas without religion is hard because religious ideas remain deeply ingrained in our secular culture.
Frederich Nietzsche had a point when he said that the "death of god" would necessitate the "trans-valuation of all values" derived from god. There is a link between strong atheism and the nihilism because strong atheism changes the definition of objective reality to exclude the possibility existence of god and deny it is possible.
God provides the source of "objective" ethics in a religious view because god has consciousness and is said to objectively exist. If we reject this, we lose the source of our objective values and then fall back on to our own consciousness and therefore end up making moral judgements based on our subjective preferences. Nihilism is a necessary part of the destruction of religious belief and of morality derived from religious sources- but it should not be an end in itself.
A nihilist eventually has to seek an new objective source for their morality. so long as truth, and therefore 'right and wrong' as a arbitrated to the consciousness of the individual, it is more than likely that nihilism will have deeply destructive effects on the person themselves and on the people around them. Nihilism doesn't stop with rejecting objective ethics, but then moves on to objective truth, science, knowledge, etc. These things are not a product of an individuals' consciousness or free will but a necessary part of the human condition and of mental health. Ethics are not necessarily a choice, but are a set of rules we spontaneously develop to get along with each other. it is in our social activity that we define our sense of right and wrong. I'd therefore say that nihilism is a journey rather than a destination.
Frederich Nietzsche had a point when he said that the "death of god" would necessitate the "trans-valuation of all values" derived from god. There is a link between strong atheism and the nihilism because strong atheism changes the definition of objective reality to exclude the possibility existence of god and deny it is possible.
God provides the source of "objective" ethics in a religious view because god has consciousness and is said to objectively exist. If we reject this, we lose the source of our objective values and then fall back on to our own consciousness and therefore end up making moral judgements based on our subjective preferences. Nihilism is a necessary part of the destruction of religious belief and of morality derived from religious sources- but it should not be an end in itself.
A nihilist eventually has to seek an new objective source for their morality. so long as truth, and therefore 'right and wrong' as a arbitrated to the consciousness of the individual, it is more than likely that nihilism will have deeply destructive effects on the person themselves and on the people around them. Nihilism doesn't stop with rejecting objective ethics, but then moves on to objective truth, science, knowledge, etc. These things are not a product of an individuals' consciousness or free will but a necessary part of the human condition and of mental health. Ethics are not necessarily a choice, but are a set of rules we spontaneously develop to get along with each other. it is in our social activity that we define our sense of right and wrong. I'd therefore say that nihilism is a journey rather than a destination.
