r/StoicMemes 15d ago

Nihilist vs Stoic

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

3.8k Upvotes

View all comments

Show parent comments

6

u/ItsFuckingScience 15d ago

How so? Is your thinking something like “Life is meaningless so I choose to give it my own meaning”

13

u/ChampionOfLoec 15d ago

That would be existentialism because you're assigning meaning.

Stoicism "Life is meaningless, I will continue to walk this path knowing it will lead to nowhere because I choose to. I will find peace in its meaninglessness"

Existentialism "Life is meaningless, I will continue to walk this path knowing it will lead to nowhere because I choose to. My journey gives me meaning because I say it does."

Nihilism "Life is meaningless, therefore nothing matters. I do not matter, life is indifferent, all fades to nothingness eventually"

1

u/Ser_Gothmer 15d ago

I think you're ascribing additional requirements to being a nihilist here. Though I don't suppose there is a singular agreed upon definition, I tend to believe all that is required is the first part: "Life is meaningless." The response to that doesn't change the nihilism.

1

u/chookseven 14d ago

Nihilism is, nothing matters, and that there’s no meaning to anything, full stop. So if there is anything added after that fact, it becomes a different perspective or philosophical ideology.