Mato's Blog

Is Nihilism a philosophical doctrine or a state of mind?

Nietzsche characterized nihilism as emptying the world and especially human existence of meaning, purpose, comprehensible truth, or essential value. He thought that knowledge is never mere fact and always bound by perspective and it is our interpretation through which we understand the world and give it meaning. Nietzsche thought, that one way of interpreting the world is through morality. Morality is one of the fundamental ways in which people make sense of the world, especially in regard to their own thoughts and actions.

I can live with this ideas though I would myself label as a follower of “Reductive Materialism”. From an intellectual point of view I cant see anything that would imply meaning or purpose, nevertheless I constructed my morality from the influences to which I was exposed over the years and from personal experience.

In Nietzsche’s view that would be a strong morality and I feel assured and satisfied, that my views are congruent with Nietzsche.

One doesn’t have to interpret the following lyrics as an outcry of hopelessness and despair. It could be as well seen as a relaxed and insightful statement, which in the end means nothing else than: “take it easy”.

Rainy Day Song
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Why do I exist
And try to resist
And why do I worry
And why should I hurry
Why should I shed tears
Why should I have fears
And why do I live
I have nothing to give
There is nothing to gain
Nothing to attain
As I will not sustain
And I will not remain

I will soon be a cloud
And I’ll sing out loud
A praise of the rain
Let the sun shine in vain
I will travel to east
And convert to mist
Be a drop in the ocean
Vanish without emotion
I’ll be gone forever
And nobody will never
Dance and sing along
To my rainy day song
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Mato  September 23 2000