Nihilism
WordNet
noun
(1) A revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake
(2) Complete denial of all established authority and institutions
(3) The delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From Nihilismus, itself from + German -ismus '-ism', coined in 1817 by German philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, but repeatedly 'reinvented'.
Noun
- Extreme skepticism, maintaining that nothing has a real existence.
- The rejection of all moral principles.
- (capitalized by protagonist Turgenev) A Russian anarchistic revolutionary doctrine (1860-1917) holding that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake, independent of any constructive program or possibility.
- The belief that all endeavors are ultimately futile and devoid of meaning.
- "...the band members sweat hard enough to earn their pretensions, and maybe even their nihilism" (rock critic Dave Marsh, reviewing the band XTC's album Go)
- Contradiction (not always deliberate) between behavior and espoused principle, to such a degree that all possible espoused principle is voided.
- The deliberate refusal of belief, to the point that belief itself is rejected as untenable.