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Optimistic Nihilism

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 Jon Stewart 27 Jul 2017
If you haven't seen this youtube channel, you're missing out. Here's their latest, a lovely bit of sensible modern philosophy, in a sensible but amusing modern format.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsXVk37bltHxD1rDPwtNM8Q

There's a great one on there on CRISPR which has been in the news today, bits on economics, lots of biology and all sorts of scientific and rational stuff. Politics too. Long live youtube!
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 Jonny 29 Jul 2017
In reply to Jon Stewart:

Nicely made, although misnamed: you don't have to be a realist about meaning (etc) to not be a nihilist!
 Flinticus 02 Aug 2017
In reply to Jon Stewart:

youtube.com/watch?v=MBRqu0YOH14&

Try this (or is this the same? your link doesn't work on my laptop)
 felt 02 Aug 2017
In reply to Jon Stewart:

Is that like the pessimism of strength?
 alexm198 02 Aug 2017
In reply to Jon Stewart:

Lovely video, thanks for sharing. Not at all sure why you're being downvoted.

I really like the recent trend of more accessible philosophy videos that are cropping up on YouTube at the moment (e.g. Alain de Botton's 'The School of Life' series). It can only be a positive that philosophy is having a renaissance in the Socratic tradition of examining how we might live a 'good' - or at least meaningful - life.
 alexm198 02 Aug 2017
In reply to Jonny:

Can you explain this a bit more? My understanding of nihilism was as a rejection of external meaning. I suppose you could be a nihilist about meaning or morality and still maintain that those two things existed but were simply human constructs, thereby being both nihilist and realist. Is this what you mean?
The video seems to be describing some parts of existentialism, not nihilism; namely the idea that we can dictate our own meaning in a universe without meaning. This video is far closer to pop than academic philosophy, so I would take its (and any bitesize introduction to a complex subject) usage of academic terms with a grain of salt.

 alexm198 03 Aug 2017
In reply to BarneyLoosemore:
You say that like existentialism and nihilism are incompatible positions. I would argue that a lot of existentialist thought takes nihilism as its start point. Nietzsche is perhaps most commonly associated with nihilism (e.g. the famous 'God is dead' from The Gay Science), but many of his other texts can be seen as a response to this nihilism. Sure, all values may be baseless, but even with this lack of intrinsic meaning you can cultivate meaning through Nietzsche's recommendation to 'become what you are'; to find meaning through authentic living as 'übermensch'.

You are right that the video calls its position 'optimistic nihilism' erroneously - I'd agree with you that it's just well-worn existentialist ideas. But some degree of nihilism is necessarily an ingredient of existentialist philosophy anyway.
Post edited at 09:45
OP Jon Stewart 03 Aug 2017
In reply to alexm198 & BarneyLoosemore:

Sounds to me like you're disagreeing about the definition of nihilism. The sense which it's used here is the sense that I understand it: the universe simply *is*, and it has no purpose, there is no 'other realm' of moral principles or religious truth or spiritual connection to the cosmos. I'm guessing that nihilism has a more specific/formal meaning in philosophy, which as you say is not what the video's talking about.

So, the existentialist philosophers came to this position before we understood the *big* causes of existential angst outlined in the clip: the unimaginable scale of the universe and our insignificance as cleverly assembled clumps of molecules in it (although I totally agree with the idea that life, and particularly consciousness *does* have a type of significance in the universe, just not the ridiculous "centre of god's creation" sense). Good on'em!

 Siward 04 Aug 2017
In reply to Jon Stewart:
There was a lovely piece on the Today programme the other day with Sarah Montague chatting with Richard Dawkins. Not deep philosophy, they were just discussing Dawkins' assertion that one should make decisions clinically and rationally, not emotionally. It stood out for the quality, really, of what was just a conversation. Long live the BBC!

Edit: Here it is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p059xmhs

(you'll need one of those new fangled BBC accounts though- down with the BBC!)
Post edited at 07:07

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