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- The Difference Between Nihilism, Pessimism, Cynicism, and Skepticism
The Difference Between Nihilism, Pessimism, Cynicism, and Skepticism
Cynicism, pessimism, and nihilism are often conflated, but for anyone looking to help people suffering from these ailments, it’s useful to break them apart.
Nihilism is the belief that there’s no meaning to our lives, and that it’s pointless to look for it. There are many flavors of this belief, and they are commonly—but not necessarily—paired with hedonism, pessimism, and cynicism. Importantly, Nihilism is simply the “lack of meaning” component, and not any positive or negative valence that can come with that belief.
Since Nihilists don’t believe in any intrinsic meaning, they often find something to use as a substitute.
Hedonism—the belief that one should pursue physical pleasure as a primary calling—is one option. Another option is to simply be happy-go-lucky, enjoying the surface of things and not looking any deeper than that (since you already know there’s nothing to find).
So it’s definitely possible to be a happy or positive Nihilist, but the state is mostly associated with negative outlooks.
Just keep in mind that Nihilism itself is neutral. Think of Nihilism as an empty vessel. All the Nihilist is saying is that the empty bucket isn’t full of invisible morality and truth and meaning by default. It’s up to them what they put in there themselves.
Pessimism is the lack of hope, the belief that bad things will happen, and that things will get worse. Importantly, this doesn’t require Nihilism. You can be a devout Christian Pessimist. And you can be a Nihilist Optimist. Nihilists probably lean towards Pessimism, but they’re not inexorably tied.
Keep in mind that many people believe they’re skeptics, but are in fact only apply skepticism to things they don’t already believe.
Skepticism is a general attitude of doubt towards claims of truth, especially when the claims are not well-supported. Skeptics often reject almost any claim that doesn’t have extremely good evidence supporting it.
Cynicism is skepticism regarding people and organizations that claim to be selfless, altruistic, and good. If they hear that some manufacturing plant owner paid their employees over the holidays, despite the plant being shut down for repairs, they’re likely to believe they did it for the PR.
Summary
Nihilists just don’t believe there’s meaning in the world, but they can take that belief into positive or negative directions.
Pessimists believe things are going to turn out badly and generally deteriorate, but they don’t need to be Nihilists to be that way.
Skeptics are doubters.
Cynics are doubters regarding people and organizations acting in any way other than their own self-interest.