I have alway thought of nihilism as a type of choosing in which all options are equally valid, ... which would mean that nihilism is a form of negative freedom. And yet it has also seemed to me that there must be some distinction between nihilism and negative freedom.
Negative freedom is the concept sustaining basic libertarianism, in which all human action is promoted insofar as it does not interfere with others, but libertarianism does not mean all choices are equal. In fact, it merely establishes that law should work to protect all action, while society will approve or disapprove of human actions (and by the latter, distinguish values). It seems a good model for comprehending historical change.
And yet, positive freedom implies a correct path, action, idea, against which our approximation is a measure of our freedom. Who clings more closely to the idea, is more free. The most prudent person is the most free person.
Whereas, nihilism seems to impair choice, such that the action of choosing is pointless. In that respect, it would be separate from negative freedom? Negative freedom celebrates choice, without affirming any particular choice over another?
I agree with you. I do think nihilism and negative freedom promote the idea that all options are equal, but I think they diverge in that nihilism denies all social and moral principles. Life is meaningless, so one could argue that all options are equal simply because they are meaningless. Regardless of the choice one ends up making, it does not matter. There is no point in even having an opinion as to whether or not one has made the right choice. In contrast, negative freedom is the foundation for the laws established in America. Negative freedom has helped establish principles that are critical to our culture and society, such as equality and liberty. Negative freedom promotes the idea of power and a right to any and all kinds of resources in our lives. But nihilism would completely reject this and deny the value in achieving freedom from any external restraint.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the your basic idea that nihilism makes every choice equally valid. Nihilism says that everything is pointless therefore why choose anything. To me this implies that there is one correct choice - don't choose. So would this make nihilism seem more closely related to positive freedom?
ReplyDeleteI agree that nihilism and negative freedom seem somewhat related. Nihilism is, after all, essentially the freedom from all things. What is particularly problematic for me about Nihilism is that a true nihilist actually embraces things like destruction and general apathy, which seems to promote a sort of belief system despite the claim that a nihilist believes in nothing at all. This particular belief system does indeed remind me of certain freedoms we defined in class because a Nihilist must choose to embrace the some aforementioned ideals and values in order to qualify as a nihilist. I therefore believe that nihilists may actually exercise both positive and negative freedoms.
ReplyDelete