Position
Existential Nihilism
Life has no objective meaning or value: neither God nor the world supplies any.
Classification
- Position level
- specific
- Domains
- Ethics
Overview
Existential nihilism holds that the world supplies no purpose that could make existence meaningful in itself; projects and commitments do not alter that underlying absence of objective value.
Position on
Rival positions
- Fitting Fulfillment
Question scope: The Meaning of Life
- Divine Purpose
Question scope: The Meaning of Life
References
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Nihilism
- Susan Wolf, Meaning in Life and Why It Matters (Princeton University Press, 2010), ch. 1, which holds that some objects of engagement are genuinely worth caring about, against the nihilist claim that nothing has objective value
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Meaning of Life, §§2 and 4 (supernaturalism holds that a life can acquire meaning from a divine purpose, which nihilism denies is available to any life)