Why Is Nihilism Bad?

[Krois]

Er.. So what about existential nihilism?

And saying nihilist isn't human and that it goes against human instinct is a bit farfetch. Because if so, likewise can a nihilist view people who are trying so hard looking for meaning to reason out their life to be stupid and doubt they'll ever go on living if they never finds a reason.

 

[Torrasque]

Nihilism is bad because it is self-destructive.
If you believe that life has no value, you can either live a great life or a very short one, it is all about how you use it. You can believe television has no value or reading has no value. But as soon as you start believing that life has no value, then there is something wrong.
True Nihilists live empty meaningless lives because they believe nothing matters. They are alive, but they don't live.

It's bad because it's a useless philosophy, it's a dead end. Once you've said that there's no worth to anything and no morality there isn't anywhere futher you can go with that. Worse than that it doesn't provide any insight or guidance on it's own, even if you believe in it you still need some other philosophy on top of it, while aknokledgeing that it's pointless.

Also, this.

 

[TheVioletBandit]

I think this debate demolishes it nicely, though it is pretty long
http://www.debate.org/debates/Nihilism/1/

I guess that between the two I would side with the hedonist, but only because the other chose is a nihilist.

 

[AgentNein]

Alright then, I guess I'm unclear on what separates the nihilist from the existentialist, as I was under the impression that this is the position of the existentialist as well?

The main difference is that the nihilist (broadly understood and given that they adhere to that position), stops at the idea that everything is meaningless while the existentialist (this idea not necessarily being limited to that particular movement) is willing to admit a state of inherent meaninglessness but then takes the next step by suggesting that humanity create its own purpose/meaning.

By the way, as others have pointed out, there are many forms of nihilism. Most of those in this thread who claim to subscribe to or support nihilism are talking about cognitive nihilism (the idea that no belief can be grounded upon objective truth because no such truth exists), or don't realize that calling yourself a nihilist implies that you refuse to take the next step toward creating meaning.

P.S. For those who might still be confused, here's existential nihilism in auditory form:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/RPUXsqshayk

Okay, I guess I WAS clear on the difference. I'm very confused now though and I'm not even sure why.