Interpretations of Modernism in Philosophy: Nihilism and Existentialism

 by Natalie Moras

Friedrich Nietzsche: "Gott ist tot" ("God is dead")

In the 19th and 20th centuries, religious philosophies were questioned in the West and a surge of experimentation in secular ones were introduced. This birthed modernism in literature - modernist writers generally choosing to rebel against clear-cut storytelling and formulaic verse. In addition to rejecting religious philosophies, the certainty of Enlightenment thinking, the use and celebration of reason during the 17th and 18th centuries, was also rejected. (Initially, the movement was called "avant-garde", French for “advanced guard”, descriptive of its endeavour to overthrow tradition. The term "modernism" itself is derived from Latin: "modo" translating to "just now".) Whilst there is no specific modernist movement in philosophy, modernism does refer to a movement within the arts which had some influence over later philosophical thought. The later reaction against modernism gave rise to the postmodernist movement both in the arts and in philosophy.

Eventually, some philosophers rejected the ideology of realism altogether. However, there are different attitudes on this separation from realism. 

The most popular amongst the everyday “emo” is nihilism, however it is a valid philosophy. “Everything is baseless and nothing can be truly known nor communicated.” That is nihilism. This has been interpreted as the notion that the world is meaningless and purposeless: existential nihilism. Therefore all action, suffering, and feeling is ultimately senseless and empty. This is perfectly summarised by this Macbeth extract emphasising the brevity and futility of life: 

“Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.”

However, nihilism as the belief that nothing is consequential breeds stoics. Those who follow stoicism, as one of the four Greek schools of philosophy, find that worldliness (as wealth, status, power, possession and stature) is neither inherently good nor bad, and they have no social importance. This, in contrast to existential nihilism, produces a majority of positive attitudes - filled with appreciation for insignificance and comfort in it as opposed to committing to ‘edgy’ and harmful thoughts and actions due to nothing truly mattering. On the other hand, it is important to acknowledge that each of these viewpoints can have the opposite outcome in terms of ‘good’ - stoicism potentially ignoring the chaos and disorder in the modern world and existential nihilists finding a cold comfort that disregards the amount of suffering one endures, as it was either always going to turn out that way or even if it could change, really not matter.

Another interpretation on rejecting realism is existentialism. Existentialism has the misconception of being equivalent to absurdism - which is at most a sub-school of existentialism. This is seen by Heidegger and Camus being labelled as existentialists despite publicly declaring that they are not. This is indicative of the fact that the exact term of existentialism is nebulous. When we abandon illusions, life is revealed as nothing; and existentialists find both solace in this via absolute freedom and existential horror and emotional anguish. 

This nothingness unveils individuals as isolated beings who are forced into our alien and unresponsive universe. People are prevented from ever being enlightened with greater meaning and purpose. Therefore responsibility is placed upon the individual to define those answers themselves. This may place extreme burden on the existentialist, binding them to a cruel journey because it is incentivised by an intriguing, final outcome. 

Another interpretation of existentialism is that "existentialism is a humanism", coined by Jean-Paul Sartre. This is because it expresses the power of human beings to make choices with free-will. Humanism is the progressive philosophy that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability, and thus responsibility, to lead ethical lives that aspire to the greater good. Therefore, if existentialism follows this then one’s own ability to create and define meaning has an overall good outcome as it is beneficial to others.

Whilst both nihilism and existentialism both deny divine intervention as explanatory for the nature of human existence, they do differ. The former finds everything completely baseless whilst the latter finds that the world is only naturally in this state and it is an individual’s responsibility to overcome inconsequentiality. Thus, nihilism rejects realism entirely whilst existentialism rejects it initially. It might be easier to act as a nihilist in practice due to the passiveness and stagnancy of this stance whereas existentialism seems more taxing yet ultimately more fulfilling as a ‘quest’ for meaning is created.