Criticism of Nihilism

Nihilism has been called many things — corrosive, cowardly, liberating, honest — sometimes all in the same sentence. While some see it as a bracing dose of truth, others have spent centuries trying to dismantle it. Philosophers, religious leaders, cultural critics — they’ve all taken a swing at the void, hoping to fill it with something less bleak. Some make compelling points. Others just prove the nihilist’s case by trying too hard.

Philosophical Critiques

From Aristotle to modern moral realists, one of the most common attacks is that nihilism undercuts the very possibility of ethics. If nothing matters, why act morally? Why sacrifice for others? Why care at all? Some philosophers argue that without shared, objective values, society collapses into selfish chaos. The counterargument, of course, is that morality has always been a human construction — and if it works, it’s because we choose it, not because the cosmos demands it.

Religious Responses

Every major faith tradition sees nihilism as a threat to the moral and spiritual order. Christianity points to God’s existence as the ultimate guarantor of meaning. Islam offers divine command as an anchor for purpose. Buddhism reframes the void as an invitation to transcend suffering. From the pulpit to the prayer mat, the message is clear: without the divine, the human spirit loses its compass. The nihilist sees it differently — the absence of God is not a loss, but an opening.

Cultural and Social Pushback

In the arts, politics, and everyday conversation, nihilism is often caricatured as apathetic or destructive. “If nothing matters, then why not burn it all down?” has been the rallying cry of critics from every era. Some see this worldview as incompatible with human progress, arguing that meaning — even if invented — is a necessary social glue. The nihilist reply? If your meaning is strong enough to matter, it shouldn’t require cosmic permission to exist.

The Irony of the Backlash

Here’s the twist: the vehemence of nihilism’s critics often proves the nihilist’s point. The frantic need to justify meaning can look suspiciously like fear of admitting there’s none. Some critics even start by agreeing that life has no inherent meaning… and then rush to patch the hole with belief, morality, or national identity. In the end, the fight isn’t really between meaning and meaninglessness — it’s between competing stories about how to live. The nihilist just happens to admit theirs is a story.

Nihilism Isn’t Just Debbie Downers in Black Ruining Thanksgiving

What the critics miss — sometimes intentionally (as in the case of institutions that survive on money and devotion, like the Church) and sometimes unintentionally (the other sheep) — is that nihilism doesn’t have to be depraved. It can be glorious, even liberating, if done intelligently. The key isn’t to go full lunatic, sprinting naked through the streets like you’ve just escaped an asylum. It’s to indulge with precision — to be smart about it.

For more on the science behind the truth of meaninglessness — yes, there’s science to support it — and how to indulge like a god rather than a depressed moron, check out You Are Not Alive: The Illusion of Consciousness and Free Will.