Nihilism and Mental Health
The contest between talk therapy and Nietzsche is not much of a contest. Nietzsche wins every time. And it shows.
Nihilism is an intellectual doctrine, an idea, a concept. Some scholars define nihilism as a product or result of postmodern philosophy. That is debatable. Nihilism—or, nihilist assertions—can be found even in very old, classical texts.
The statements by Thrasymachus, in Book I of Plato’s Republic, are quite nihilistic. Certain aspects of Machiavelli’s “new modes and orders” are nihilistic. Some would argue the words attributed to the Serpent in the Old Testament’s Book of Genesis are nihilistic.
What Is Nihilism?
Nihilism is, therefore, an old concept found in old books as well as new. Perhaps the only difference is that in new books one finds open theoretical explorations of what nihilism means.
It is a challenge to speak or write about nihilism. The root comes from the Latin word nihil, meaning “nothing.” At its core, nihilism rejects the existence of any inherent value, meaning, goodness, or truth in life.
In a strange irony that rattles ordinary minds, it’s almost easier to speak of nihilism as all that is not rather than to ask what nihilism is. Arguably, no one peered into the abyss of nihilism and rejected it, more thoughtfully, than did Shakespeare. And, to the famous Shakespearean question of whether to be or not to be, nihilism always answers the latter.
Whatever truth or purpose you assume exists and is important, is not, according to nihilism.
It’s even misleading to describe nihilism as philosophy. Philosophy—literally the love (philo) of wisdom or knowledge (sophia)—is the active pursuit of truth. Philosophy is an active way of life, the premise of which is that truth exists, including moral truth, which the human mind might be able to discover, discern, and understand. The practical application of philosophy enables human beings to make choices that align with what is right and good, the best example of which is Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
Nihilism mocks philosophy as a fool’s errand because nihilism rejects the very premise of philosophy: Why pursue what does not exist?
To offer some semblance of a definition, nihilism posits that there is no objective truth, no objective morality, no objective meaning, purpose, or value for living, willful beings. Nihilism rejects ordinary established political, religious, and ethical norms, which is why many cultural revolutionaries are attracted to nihilism.
The nihilist assumes that objective knowledge is impossible because truth is nonexistent, unknowable to the human mind, or both. It follows that moral truths do not exist, and therefore, no action is inherently moral or immoral, right or wrong, meaningful or meaningless.
There is no ethical guide for your choices. There is only human will and sheer physical power, nothing more. Whether you will to live or will to die doesn’t really matter because nothing matters. Whether you use power for what others call justice or injustice does not matter because justice is illusory.
Perhaps the only interesting question for the nihilist is: Will you actually do what you have the will to do? Or, do you lack the will to do what you want to do?
Nihilism and Mental Health
Let us consider perhaps the most famous of all nihilists, the German philologist, thinker, and aphoristic writer, Friedrich Nietzsche. As a nihilist, Nietzsche has a problem only from the point of view of non-nihilists. Those who believe there is truth and moral purpose in the world think Nietzsche must be morally and intellectually lost to believe in the nothingness of nothing.
Nietzsche, however, did not think he had a problem. He thought he was among the few who saw clearly the indifference of the universe for what it is—without purpose or meaning. He thought the many, who continue to speak in terms of right, justice, goodness, and truth, are the ones with the problem because they live according to fictions and illusions rather than facing the brutal reality of nihilism.
Should Nietzsche have suffered from depression and died from addiction or suicide, that would be viewed as tragic by those who might have loved him, but Nietzsche’s senseless death would be a matter of utter indifference according to Nietzsche himself.
And that leads us to what might be the greatest mental health problem in our postmodern, progressive United States: Nihilism.
Nihilism is bad for the soul, bad for the human psyche, bad for mental health. Human flourishing is inseparable from human purpose. Life requires great amounts of work, energy, focus, discipline, creativity, and productivity. Those who have been seduced by nihilism and believe there is no purpose tend to lack the good habits necessary for a life well-lived.
To boot, nihilism cannot be solved with therapy. This is hard for many postmodern, progressive Americans—the kinds of Americans who peddle nihilism as a trendy cultural fad—to understand.
Someone who has bought into the popular nihilistic propaganda of our day and concludes that meaning, purpose, and moral truth are chimeras—unreal imaginative illusions—will find the words of a therapist to be chimeras, too.
We’ve told a generation of Americans that reality is nihilistic, that there is no meaning, purpose, or truth towards which we can orient and aim our lives. In fact, we joke about it with a simple condescending question: "Who’s to say what’s right or wrong?"
Of course, almost everyone who mutters that question is too impatient to wait around for an answer because they assume there is no answer. They assume there is no objective right or wrong and therefore no one can say what is truly right or wrong.
They are nihilists.
Or, perhaps more precisely, they speak like nihilists. They’re not really nihilists. Oh, they will deny moral truth one moment, but the very next moment they burst into moral outrage over how morally wrong someone is or something they don’t like. If you doubt this, just listen to a postmodern progressive relativist talk about how morally wrong Donald Trump is!
In short, they talk like nihilists and live like moralists. They’re deeply confused.
Their confusion, however, doesn’t stop them from spouting nihilism for others to hear and read. The problem is that many do hear and read, including sometimes our own children, students, and others who are just starting out in the journey of life.
We have created in our postmodern, progressive United States a culture of nihilism, in which any suggestion of non-arbitrary, non-cultural, objective moral truth is instantly ridiculed. Postmodern, progressive Americans woo and wow each other by mocking morality.
After all, what does it mean for those who deny truth to be “educated,” “learned,” or “smart?” It means they mock truth—especially moral truth—while occasionally holding up “scientific truth” proclaimed by Anthony Fauci and other bureaucrats, when it is politically useful to do so.
When nothing is wrong, nothing is prohibited. And when nothing is prohibited, everything is seen many as being permitted, even encouraged, including addiction, suicide, and murder. To assume the world is nihilistic is to live in moral darkness without a moral compass.
When young Americans sink into depression and other mental illnesses, when they become addicted to substances that help them ignore the nihilism they believe is all around them, when they turn to suicide, or mass murder, or end up being sexually and violently abused in homeless encampments, all postmodern progressive Americans can recommend is therapy.
By then it is likely too late. Therapy will not because it cannot solve the problem of nihilism.
In his book Beyond Good & Evil, Nietzsche described what happens to the person who flirts with and then succumbs to nihilism:
Whoever attempts it… proves that he is probably not only strong, but daring to the point of recklessness. He enters into a labyrinth, he multiplies a thousandfold the dangers that life brings with it in any case, not the least of which is that no one can see how and where he loses his way, becomes lonely, and is torn piecemeal by some minotaur of conscience. Supposing one like that comes to grief, this happens so far from the comprehension of [ordinary] men that they neither feel it nor sympathize. And he cannot go back any longer. Nor can he go back to the pity of men.
Therapy can help an individual understand what he or she feels, and why, which is no small accomplishment for those who are not self-aware. But ordinary therapy—the kind of talk therapy that is common among Master's level counselors and psychologists—cannot refute the claims of postmodern nihilism.
Therapy cannot disprove the abyss of nothingness. That is a daunting goal only a living Socrates could tackle, beyond the realm of ordinary counselors.
Therapy vs. Nietzsche
The contest between talk therapy and Nietzsche is not much of a contest. Nietzsche wins every time.
Still, we postmodern Americans continue to do more of the same. We are disciples of Nietzsche. We chatter and prattle and promote watered-down versions of nihilism, and, simultaneously, we lament that we have a mental health crisis in America, usually accompanied with demands for more taxpayer-subsidized therapists, even though we already have an army of therapists in the United States.
Perhaps there is another way?
Perhaps we should address our mental crisis, visible in every American city today, not with therapists, and not by taxing those who are productive? Perhaps we could try not promoting a culture of nihilism, and see what results follow?
Perhaps we talk more about what is true, good, and beautiful, and less about diversity, arbitrary cultural perspectives, and moral nothingness?
What if we started to promote moral truth, living a good life, and the happiness that results from a life well-lived as much as we’ve been promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion?
If the nihilists turn out to be correct, what have we to lose? Nothing, according to them.
And, we might offer some possibility of meaning and purpose to some young Americans who are desperately searching for moral waypoints by which they can navigate life. Perhaps you know of a young person in the clutches of nihilism, right now, who finds his own life to be meaningless and without purpose? Is he or she worth an attempt to replace our culture of nihilism with a culture of life, goodness, and truth? Is he or she worth it for you to acknowledge that perhaps you were mistaken in the nihilism you’ve been spreading to others?