What we observe is that these doctrines rarely label themselves as nihilist (it would be absurd, for instance, for a Christian to self-identify as a nihilist). Instead, 'nihilist' is often an accusation leveled by one author against a competing doctrine. In other words, there seems to be no manifesto of nihilism in which the doctrine's meaning is clearly articulated and claimed. It seems strange, then, to give credence to a notion that almost no one claims as their own and which functions more as an insult than as a concept with real substance.
Moreover, the definitions of nihilism just mentioned do not form a consistent concept; rather, they associate it with other doctrines whose meanings are much clearer—such as Christianity, pessimism, or scepticism.
One wonders what additional meaning the term 'nihilism' truly offers and whether it might merely be an empty shell lacking intrinsic meaning.
I now propose to examine the association of nihilism with pessimism and scepticism to determine whether it holds any legitimacy.
b) Is nihilism a form of pessimism?
Nietzsche, in his fundamental study of the phenomenon of nihilism, seems to equate nihilism with pessimism. By pessimism, I mean the axiological doctrine that asserts nothing considered to have value truly does, leading to feelings of sadness, malaise, and perhaps suicide.
In fact, Nietzsche explicitly addresses the problem of the relationship between these two positions: first of all, he makes one an essential moment of the other: Pessimism as a preliminary form of nihilism
1.
This idea is based on two arguments.
Firstly, it is the classic feelings of pessimism, as indicated earlier, that nihilism provokes. First and foremost, weariness - everything is in vain: A glimpse at man nowadays makes us tired—what is contemporary nihilism, if it is not that?... We are weary of man…
2.
Secondly, pure and simple suicide: Nihilism does not only contemplate the "in vain!" nor is it merely the belief that everything deserves to perish: one helps to destroy. […] The reduction to nothing by judgment is seconded by the reduction to nothing by hand
3.
Additionally, Nietzsche identifies three causes for the formation of nihilism in the human mind, all of which link back to pessimism.
First, the realization that the universe has no meaning: Now one realizes that becoming aims at nothing and achieves nothing
4 which leads to the recognition of the long waste of strength, the agony of the "in vain"
5 ("die Qual des Umsonst").
In the second stage, we stop believing that the multiplicity, or rather the chaos of being, can be subsumed under a unity through which man might rediscover a link to the Whole, and thereby find value: At bottom, man has lost the faith in his own value when no infinitely valuable whole works through him; i.e., he conceived such a whole in order to be able to believe in his own value
6.
Finally, we realize that what we took to be the truth, what we considered the true world, is nothing but a fiction.
With the dissolution of the three categories on which, according to Nietzsche, all value rests—purpose, unity, and truth—value itself dissolves, and man becomes nihilistic: The feeling of valuelessness was reached with the realization that the overall character of existence may not be interpreted by means of the concept of "aim," the concept of "unity," or the concept of "truth.". […] Briefly: the categories "aim," "unity," "being" which we used to project some value into the world -we pull out again; so the world looks valueless
7.
This leads man to ask this terrible question: The nihilistic question "What for?
8.
As we see, nihilism aligns closely with pessimism, blurring any distinction between the two doctrines: nihilism appears to be simply a name without unique meaning, and it could as well be called pessimism. Nietzsche seems to have come to the opposite conclusion: Pessimism is not a problem but a symptom, [its] name should be replaced by "nihilism"
9. Yet, in practice, this results in the same outcome—assigning to nihilism the content of pessimism, as Nietzsche’s use of the term nihilism lacks an independent meaning.
1. The Will to Power, Book 1 European Nihilism, 9
2. On the Genealogy of Morals, 12
3. The Will to Power, Book 1 European Nihilism, 24
4. Ibid, 12 A
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.,
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid, 20
9. Ibid., 38