Nihilism/Existentialism

Christian Theism starting date

rooted in judaism, fulfilled through Jesus (~1AD)

naturalism starting date

enlightenment + scientific revolution (17-18 century)

nihilism starting date

19th century, response to death of christian life

atheistic existentialism starting date

19-20 century response to nihilism

theistic existentialism starting date

19th century response to rationlism and traditional theology

christian theism view of god

personal, sovreign, loving, revealed through bible

naturalism view of god

no god, universe in closed system

nihilism view of god

no god, no inherent meaning in existence

atheistic existentialism view of god

no god, but humans must create own meaning

theistic existentialism view of god

god exists, but faith is personal + subjective experiences

christian theism humans

created in god’s image good but fallen

naturalism humans

complex biological machine, evolution

nihilism humans

accidental existence, meaningless, doomed to suffer + vanish

atheistic existentialism humans

free indi. responsible for making own meaning

theistic existentialism

human struggling with meaning, torn btw reason + faith

christian theism truth

objective, revealed by god thorugh bible

naturalism truth

through science + reason, empirical evidence

nihilism truth

no objective truth, truth is an illusion

atheistic existentialism truth

no inherent truth, only what indi. create

theistic existentialism truth

truth is subjective, found in individual faith expereinces

christian theism faith

trust in god’s promises + revelation lead to salvation

naturalism faith

faith is unnecessary only empirical evidence matters

nihilism faith

faith is meaningless since nothing has value

atheistic existentialism faith

faith is choice to embrace one’s own meaning

theistic existentialism faith

leap beyong reason into personal relationship with god

christian theism famous thinkers

augustine, aquinas, c.s. lewis

naturalism famous thinkers

richerd dawkins, stephen hawking

nihilism famous thinkers

nietzsche

atheistic existentialism famous thinkers

jean-paul sartre, albert camus

theistic existentialism famous thinkers

soren kierkegaard, karl barth, dietrich bonhoeffer

naturalism → nihilism → existentialism

naturalism (no god) → nihilism (since no god, no meaning) → existentialism (since no god and no meaning, humans make their own meaning)

german idealism

18-19th century movement, “reality shaped by mind + consciousness”, Immanuel Kant, we can never know anything outside of ourselves

absurdity

conflict between human’s search for meaning and meaningless universe, meaninglessness

paradox

logical contradition challenging human reasoning

leap into faith

soren kierkegaard, since reason cannot understand god, one must “leap“ beyond reason to faith

immanuel kant

created concept of upper + lower story

upper story

realm of faith, morality, meaning (unknowable by pure reason)

lower story

empirical, scientific, material world (knowable through reason)

3 problems of naturalism

1. no basis in a closed system, no meaning

2. epistemology (knowledge) cant be trusted from colliding atoms in brain

3. morality just subjective opinion not absolute truth since no god

art nihilism

• life is reduced to geometric + fragmented forms (Picasso)

• art form that sought to link world of dreams with real life (Salvador Dali)

literature nihilism

• Literary styles: stream of consciousness by James Joyce + Virginia Wolf

• Novels: the metamorphosis by Frank Kafka

music nihilism

Jazz - a rebellion against tonality, harmony of strict rhythms

philosophy

• Nihilism

• “The only absolute knowledge attainable by man is that life is meaningless”

• Tolstoy

nihilism not a worldview

no system of thought or action, only negotiation, no basis ethics or purpose, more reaction. (parasite of naturalism)