Do you ever hear a word over and over again and wonder if you even know what the hell is really means? Well.. it sure happens to me! Sometimes we think we grasp the concept of a word, but may not really know what it’s all about, and for me nihilism is one of those words. I know the general concept behind it, but I feel like it’s probably more complex and has more to it.

Our good friend Wikipedia tells us:

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Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is the philosophical doctrine suggesting that values do not exist but rather are falsely invented. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value. Moral nihilists assert that morality does not exist, and subsequently there are no moral values with which to uphold a rule or logically prefer one action over another. Nihilism can also take an epistemological, metaphysical, or mereological form.

The term nihilism is sometimes used in association with anomie to explain the general mood of despair at a perceived pointlessness of existence that one may develop upon realizing there are no necessary norms, rules, or laws. Movements such as Futurism and deconstructionism, among others, have been identified by commentators as “nihilistic” at various times in various contexts. Often this means or is meant to imply that the beliefs of the accuser are more substantial or truthful, whereas the beliefs of the accused are nihilistic, and thereby comparatively amount to nothing (or are simply claimed to be destructively amoralistic).

Nihilism is also a characteristic that has been ascribed to time periods: for example, Jean Baudrillard and others have called postmodernity a nihilistic epoch, and some Christian theologians and figures of religious authority have asserted that postmodernity and many aspects of modernity represent a rejection of theism, and that such a rejection entails some form of nihilism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

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I also found a pretty informative site on my hunt to find out more about the term; http://www.nihilists.net/morenihilism.html

It gives everything from the definition to examples, coming from a perspective that seems to understand that the majority of people don’t need shit defined with words like postmodernity and epistemological (stupid Wikipedia!). So if you’re sincerely curious about it, definitely check it out.