concept
Nihilism
The view that life has no inherent meaning, purpose, or moral order.
Origin
Term popularized through Russian literature (Turgenev's Fathers and Sons) and made central by Nietzsche, who diagnosed nihilism as the central crisis facing post-Christian Europe.
Modern usage
Used loosely online — often as a label for 'doomerism' — but still serious in philosophy and political theory.
Tags
meaning
ethics