World War I: The Ancient Myth Of Nihilism

The history of the 20th century was one of violence and unprecedented amounts of suffering. In 1914 the World War I began, also called the Great War or the war to end all wars, it resulted in millions of deaths. Ironically the harsh penalties the victors placed on the defeated allowed for World War II which usurped WWI’s title of being histories deadliest war. WWII was in turn followed by the Cold War and several proxy wars bundled with it. These great conflicts led to a rise of new philosophical, economic, and political thinking. This era brought about violent revolutions, some supporting fascist despots, and others supporting communist tyrants. The regularity of struggle, death, and strive caused man to question the nature of his very existence

He used the ancient myth of Sisyphus to explain the futility of human action, how ultimately all human struggle is useless. Nihilism was born of this idea, coming from the Latin word “Nil” meaning “nothing”; nihilism is a belief that rejects belief. Nihilism rejects moral and religious belief stating they are all equally wrong and futile beliefs. For those of us who deny the existence of a God or a set of Gods, it becomes surprisingly easy to fall into such a bleak belief. Without an omniscient power, where does moral authority and direction come from? From here an infinite number of moral digressions can be made, stating what is truly good and what is truly evil, but ultimately they are all both equally valid and all equally wrong. Without objective morality man’s place and identity becomes obscure. All of his previously seemingly purposeful actions become meaningless without a sense moral direction. Many argue that if anyone was a true nihilist, and actually held onto these beliefs it they would just end their suffering and kill themselves. These are the people that fail to truly understand nihilism, Camus himself explains why with his concept of the absurd man. To someone who finds existence futile, inexistence is also equally futile, to take action against futile existence by ending existence is an equally futile option as existing. In an essay Camus once stated, “Not having a reason to live is not the same as having a reason to die”, and it is from this choice to exist where absurdism is born. The absurd man is the one who chooses to exist even when he understands existence is