Nihilism/Meaning Critique: Introduction

Intro to a new series

This is the introduction to a series of critical ponderings on Nihilism and “meaning”. I’ll link to the next and previous post at the end of each instalment and keep an index below.

I’ve grown sceptical of the Nihilist ideology. Alternatively: I’ve grown tired of “meaning” discourse. They’re opposite sides of the same coin.

I’m back to writing every morning and since publishing the last aphorism “Gangasrotagating Out of Nihilism” I’ve become conscious of a scent trail. I’m not certain it leads somewhere but I’m excited. It’s a little like stumbling on some bits of unusual rock protruding from a field. It could be the epicentre of some glorious archaeological discovery. Or it could be a few rocks. You never know until you dig.

Best case scenario: what I find will change the way I look at the world. Worst case: I come away with a more conscious understanding of Nihilism and Meaning.

The next three pieces were written back in December as I started following this trail. Eventually, it ran dry as I got distracted by a different trail that went cold. Whatever it is kept cooking in me and I’ve found that everything I’ve been writing this year (including the long-awaited next video) are in this vein.

From there who knows? I can only say that I feel a discomfort I can’t fully articulate with talk about Nihilism and meaning (maybe the scent I’m picking up is bullshit). This series is for Nihilism/meaning what the Metamodern Critique was for Metamodernism and Integral — an attempt to articulate something I feel in my gut.

This, as you’ll soon see is all tied in with my ongoing disorientation; being cut loose from paradigms/ideologies is an at times depressing, at times exciting, experience. It is, you might say, living philosophy.

I hope this series is an aid to those of you struggling with Nihilism or seduced by one of her solutions. Thanks for your ongoing reading and support. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments,
James

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Next:

Nihilism/Meaning Critique #1: Gangasrotagating Out of Nihilism

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Index:

I envision this critique (much like the Metamodern Critique) as being aphoristic with all the pieces standing alone yet connected. As Wittgenstein put it in the prologue of his Philosophical Investigations they are a number of sketches of the same landscape from different angles.

• Part 1: Gangasrotagating Out of Nihilism

• Part 2: The Irony of Nihilism

• Part 3: A Tale of Two Nihilisms