If there is no God, how do we combat nihilism?

If there is no meaning for life, I see no way of combating nihilism (except for maintaining the illusion of God).

i agree, I postured this question earlier ....Is religion there to combat nihilism?.......

According to your and my apothsis....

God's function is to combat nihilism........

And those before us, what mayhap did they name nihilism? the Devil!

Originally posted by Vladamir no1
i agree, I postured this question earlier ....Is religion there to combat nihilism?.......

According to your and my apothsis....

God's function is to combat nihilism........

And those before us, what mayhap did they name nihilism? the Devil!

which of the 3 definitions is it God's function to combat?

Definitions of nihilism:
noun: a revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake
noun: complete denial of all established authority and institutions
noun: the delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal

Originally posted by Vladamir no1
i agree, I postured this question earlier ....Is religion there to combat nihilism?.......

According to your and my apothsis....

God's function is to combat nihilism........

And those before us, what mayhap did they name nihilism? the Devil!

Well, I dont believe nihilism would occur if there was no God anyway. Life has meaning outside of God. And hence, we have values.

That doesn't change the fact that religion was probably created to combat nihilism. I believe it might have been necassary in the development of humanity. It might even have been naturally selected.

Originally posted by Conrau K
Well, I dont believe nihilism would occur if there was no God anyway. Life has meaning outside of God. And hence, we have values.

That doesn't change the fact that religion was probably created to combat nihilism. I believe it might have been necassary in the development of humanity. It might even have been naturally selected.

You know, this is quite interesting. Nietzsche’s hypothesis was that, absent God (which he famously absented), the Western world would likely be plunged into acute nihilism. His “solution” was (simplistically put, and ignoring other facets) amor fati.

Now, the possibilities, as I see them are:

(1) Nietzsche was wrong, and people in general learned how to live non-nihilistic lives without God.*

(2) Nietzsche was right, and we have all embraced some version of amor fati.

I’m beginning to think that Nietzsche was wrong, and that nihilism is simply untenable to the human consciousness, so we have all found our particular solutions.

* I am speaking only of the non-theists in this discussion.

Originally posted by vistesd
You know, this is quite interesting. Nietzsche’s hypothesis was that, absent God (which he famously absented), the Western world would likely be plunged into acute nihilism. His “solution” was (simplistically put, and ignoring other facets) amor fati.

Now, the possibilities, as I see them are:

(1) Nietzsche was wrong, and people in general le ...[text shortened]... l found our particular solutions.

* I am speaking only of the non-theists in this discussion.

I agree, Nietzsche was just plain wrong. But then again wasn't Nietzsche a recluse who lived a lonely life unloved? Perhaps for his existence, nihilism was impossible to avoid if there was no God.

Originally posted by vistesd
You know, this is quite interesting. Nietzsche’s hypothesis was that, absent God (which he famously absented), the Western world would likely be plunged into acute nihilism. His “solution” was (simplistically put, and ignoring other facets) amor fati.

Now, the possibilities, as I see them are:

(1) Nietzsche was wrong, and people in general le ...[text shortened]... l found our particular solutions.

* I am speaking only of the non-theists in this discussion.

Wouldn't the norm need to be psycho-pathological behavior for the lack of God to be pertinent to nihilism ( ergo nothing matters, as defined in the original post)?

Originally posted by frogstomp
Wouldn't the norm need to be psycho-pathological behavior for the lack of God to be pertinent to nihilism ( ergo nothing matters, as defined in the original post)?

I think so. But then, that was how Nietzsche saw 19th century Europe.

NOTE: I guess that's my response to Conrau as well. Except this: Nietzsche did find his answer, and was not a nihilist.

Originally posted by vistesd
I think so. But then, that was how Nietzsche saw 19th century Europe.

NOTE: I guess that's my response to Conrau as well. Except this: Nietzsche did find his answer, and was not a nihilist.

I'm still trying to figure out why the letters in EL stood for ox-goad.

Originally posted by frogstomp
I'm still trying to figure out why the letters in EL stood for ox-goad.

LOL!!! Actually, a good question...

Originally posted by vistesd
LOL!!! Actually, a good question...

I think is has to do with the feathered serpent gods of Sumer and the story of Adam and Eve, i.e. the serpent gets them to eat the fruit and then God turns Adam into a farmer, who probably had to goad oxen to get them to pull his plough.

Originally posted by frogstomp
I think is has to do with the feathered serpent gods of Sumer and the story of Adam and Eve, i.e. the serpent gets them to eat the fruit and then God turns Adam into a farmer, who probably had to goad oxen to get them to pull his plough.

Which could also speak to the differnces between a hunter-gatherer and an agricultural society, and the move from one to the other...

Originally posted by KellyJay
From your stand point time is short, and I have never insulted you
for your views while attempting to understand your position on any
topic. I cannot say you have treated me with the same respect. If
I have brought up invisible unicorns or such point this out, my points
in this discussion as many have said have been that only in life
does anything matt ...[text shortened]... now been reduced to insulting me, I'll leave
your egos to fiind another to talk about.
Kelly

I am sorry you felt insulted KJ. That was my fault, and I apologize. But my opinion is still that you have demonstrated absolutely nothing of interest in this thread. One of your main assertions can be boiled down simply to the claim that if death represents a permanent cessation of my consciousness, then, post mortem, my conscious self will no longer be present to value anything. Well, duh. But it certainly does not follow from there that all paths in life are necessarily ‘equal’. You have already agreed that actions matter in life, based on evaluative treatments. Then my actions during my natural life are meaningful by the same standards. Period, end of story. The fact that they were meaningful according to those standards does not somehow get wiped out once I die and become food for the maggots. Vigilance is more appealing than nihilism.

Originally posted by Halitose
Do you have reason to believe that human life is intrinsically valuable? Do you assign collective or individual value?

My apologies if this has been discussed before.

I can already smell where this is going. Please, theist, cite your reasons for thinking persons have intrinsic value. I will be glad at that point to demonstrate how the atheist necessarily has recourse to a position of dialectic symmetry. And if your reason is tied inextricably to a source of value originating from God, then I completely fail to see how such value would be objective or intrinsic in any sense; rather it would be subjective and extrinsic inasmuch as the value is merely conditional on considerations related to some external agent. Presumably, an ‘intrinsic value’ is derivative of one’s nature and actual properties. In that case, the atheist has access to the same endorsements and interpretations as the theist.

Originally posted by Conrau K
Hasn't Kelly ever heard of abrasive erosion and long shore drift?

In Australia all our waves are depositing sand in one beach while taking it from another. Its ruining some beaches?

What does that mean to Kelly's analogy?

Actually, ‘tis a good point you make concerning the beach analogy. While it is may be true that ‘the beach remains’ regardless of the history of waves, the structure and shape of the beach is potentially causally influenced by each and every wave that comes through. Analogously, each person has the potential to causally influence this world through his actions in manners that may defy his death (past the point at which the wave itself 'dissipates'😉.

Originally posted by vistesd
You know, this is quite interesting. Nietzsche’s hypothesis was that, absent God (which he famously absented), the Western world would likely be plunged into acute nihilism. His “solution” was (simplistically put, and ignoring other facets) amor fati.

Now, the possibilities, as I see them are:

(1) Nietzsche was wrong, and people in general le ...[text shortened]... l found our particular solutions.

* I am speaking only of the non-theists in this discussion.

To a passionate mind confronted with the absurd, I fail to see how nihilism could ever be appealing. That may be redundant given that the mind is 'passionate' to begin with; but I think I agree with your “I’m beginning to think that….”