Nihilism

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/nihilism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary philosophical domains?Metaphysics, Ethics, Epistemology, Existentialism
2. What is the key historical figures?Friedrich Nietzsche, Max Stirner, potentially precursors like Pyrrho of Elis
3. Why do some people think the world has no real meaning?Some thinkers, like Nietzsche, say that when the idea of a god or a higher purpose disappears, the universe looks like a big, indifferent place and our actions can feel pointless.
4. How does nihilism relate to other ideas like existentialism?Nihilism shows that the world might be meaningless, and that helped thinkers like Sartre and Camus look for ways to make their own meaning even when nothing is given.

Objective Meaning: Meaning that is independent of subjective experience or interpretation; inherent to the universe or existence itself.
Intrinsic Value: Value that an entity possesses for its own sake, rather than for its instrumental worth to others.
Epistemological Nihilism: The philosophical position that denies the possibility of knowledge or objective truth.