nihilisms

Noun

nihilism (countable and uncountable, plural nihilisms)

1. (uncountable, usually) The view that all endeavours are devoid of objective meaning.
   • This classification should have led to the discovery and study of remedies which act specifically upon the various textures and tissues of the body, such as the cellular, serous, mucous, parenchymatous, fibrous, gelatinous, &c., but it did not, except in the most imperfect manner—so imperfect, in...1863, John C. Peters, F[rederick] G. Snelling, “Section I. Of Medicine as a Science and as an Art; Its Objects and Its Extent.”, in Principles and Practice of Medicine, New York, N.Y.: William Radde...

   Synonyms:

   existential nihilism

2. (uncountable, usually) The rejection of, or opposition to, religious beliefs, (inherent or objective) moral principles, legal rules, etc., often due to the view that life is meaningless (sense 1).
   • [T]he dire portent of Nihilism, which some persons regard as little more than an extreme protest against absolutism in Government, [...] is an execrable conspiracy against all religion and morality.1882 September, W. Henry Thompson, “Texts for the Times: The Relation between Holiness and Worship”, in Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, volume VI (Sixth Series), London: Wesleyan-Methodist Book-Room...

   Synonyms:

   moral nihilism

3. (uncountable, usually) The rejection of non-proven or non-rationalized assertions in the social and political spheres of society.
   • As with the original American historicists, they accept only historical references and deny all extrahistorical references, including those implicit in idealism and positivism. [...] They deny both authoritarian and subjectivistic nihilisms, and they affirm the responsibility of the subject.1988, William Dean, “Preface”, in History Making History: The New Historicism in American Religious Thought (SUNY Series in Philosophy), Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page...
4. (uncountable) A delusion that oneself or the world, or parts thereof, have ceased to exist.
   • Individuals with schizophrenia often cycle between nihilistic and solipsistic moods—when in the grip of nihilism they appear to have lost experiential contact with their very existence, [...]2009, Tim Bayne, “solipsism”, in Tim Bayne, Axel Cleeremans, Patrick Wilken, editors, The Oxford Companion to Consciousness, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 608, column 2
5. A doctrine grounded on the negation of one or more meaningful aspects of life; in particular, the view that nothing in the world actually exists.
   • This great metaphysician [John Locke] considered, our ideas were derived from sensation and reflection; and preserved the distinction between these two sources of knowledge with great care; but by a perversion of his theory, his followers reduced them to sensation alone;—which by a necessary...1839, William Ingalls, A Lecture on the Subject of Phrenology not Opposed to the Principles of Religion; nor the Precepts of Christianity, Boston, Mass.: Dutton and Wentworth, […], →OCLC, pages 42–43

   Antonyms:

   antinihilism

6. (countable) Something that is regarded as meaningless.
   • This mock reasoning proves that those deliberately making use of it are, during the process, insane; inasmuch as they are attempting to reason by means of suppositions, by means of nihilisms, negative quantities.1842 April, R. F. Brancassine [pseudonym; Hughes R. P. Fraser Halle], Critical Letters on Scribbleomania. … Letter 1st, London: Houlston and Stoneman, →OCLC, page 8

See all 7 meanings of nihilism