Laughing at Nothing: Humor as a Response to Nihilism

Chapter Five. DECLINE, DECAY, AND FALLING AWAY

When you have understood the destruction of all that was made, you will understand that which was not made. —The Buddha In the previous chapter we uncovered the basic premises that underlie the philosophy of nihilism, distinguishing it from other, related systems of thought. Authentic nihilists, we found, endorse the following three claims: (1) Humans are alienated from such perfections as absolute Being,Truth, Goodness, Justice, Beauty, etc. (2) This circumstance of alienation is other than it ought to be. (3) There is nothing that humans can do to change this circumstance. Together, these three claims comprise the basic premises that the nihilist takes for granted when reasoning and drawing conclusions about the human condition. Nihilism has traditionally been considered a philosophy of despair because of the emphasis that it places on the vanity and worthlessness of our earthly struggles.1 From the perspective of the nihilist, nothing that we do is of real worth because nothing of which we are capable measures up to the superlative standards set by absolute Being, Truth, Goodness, Justice, Beauty, etc. Since the superlative is always beyond reach, all of our accomplishments in this world are, in a sense, substandard. Human life is a constant and hopeless struggle that involves a perpetual falling away from the highest, most worthy ideals. The farther we reach, according to the nihilist, the more painfully we fall away from all that is true, good and perfect. Nihilistic thinking ponders and meditates upon this incongruity between our real-life capacities and 91 Chapter Five Decline, Decay, and Falling Away the most valued standards of achievement, concluding that nothing we are capable of doing satisfactorily measures up to our highest aspirations. The trap that past thinkers have commonly fallen into when dealing with the “problem of nihilism” is to conflate all of the negative associations that have become attached to the concept of nihilism with the concept itself. So it is that we find many of the nihilists and commentators on nihilism that I surveyed in both the Introduction and in Part One seeking a means for the “overcoming ” of nihilism, and thus, they believe, the overcoming of despair. However , despair is motivated by many factors in human life, and the “overcoming” of nihilism no more implies the end of despair than does the overcoming of poverty. In stipulating the basic premises of nihilism, we have already gone far in clearing away many of the confusing, distracting, and superfluous elements that pull our attention from the core beliefs embodied in the authentically nihilistic philosophy. Our next step is to think through some of the consequences and implications of these premises. The path that I shall follow in this chapter is an unusual one. Instead of trying to argue for or against the basic assumptions embodied in the nihilist philosophy , I shall instead grant the premises that contribute to this world view and in turn work out some of their consequences. I want to walk along with the nihilist, experiencing the phenomenon from the inside, demonstrating that even from such a perspective, desperation and negativity are not necessary outcomes. I want to show that nihilism may, in fact, be lived with and appreciated.This is an exercise that has rarely been undertaken. As I have already pointed out, it is far more common for critics to attempt to describe a manner in which they believe the philosophy of nihilism might be proven false,“overcome,” and left behind.These efforts are ultimately wrongheaded since they convince only those who already dispute the basic premises of nihilism and do nothing to change the minds of nihilists themselves.2 However, we need not attempt such strong-arm techniques in order to show how nihilistic thinking itself might contribute to an active life approached with an attitude of good humor and a love of wisdom. The philosophy of nihilism implies a situation that I have called “nihilistic incongruity.” Nihilistic incongruity separates nihilists from all that they most highly desire and value, frustrating their every aspiration toward the absolute. We should be careful to note that strictly speaking, “nihilism” and “nihilistic incongruity” are two separate concepts. I shall henceforth use the term nihilism to refer to a philosophy that rests upon the three premises reiterated at the beginning of this chapter. On the other hand, I shall use the term nihilistic incongruity to refer to that circumstance implied by those premises. If the claims made by nihilism are accepted as true, then we must face the...