The -isms of Philosophy
If you are into philosophy, you should get a hang of some of the so-called -isms. these terms are used to describe a plethora of beliefs(yes I like the word ‘plethora’ that means a lot). so without wasting much of your time, you can get a rough idea of what the different kinds of -isms mean in Philosophy.
Existentialism
Existentialism is the arena of philosophy where philosophers or individuals become keen thinkers and try to question existence as it is. It was coined for the first time by Gabriel Marcel, who was a French philosopher.
Stoicism
Stoicism is an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno. It revolves around “virtue is the only good” and the abolishment of external pleasures like money, fame, and pleasure. The essence of it lies in accepting the moments as they come and the act of trying not to control them-this, this essentially is the path to Eudemonia.
Stoics believed that virtue is sufficient for happiness and, therefore, are able to face misfortune and are emotionally resilient. It lies not in what a person says, but how a person behaves. for stoics, everything is rooted in nature, and one can only live a fulfilled life if he/she is aware of the natural order.
Cynicism
Cynicism is just another branch of denial of people’s beliefs and judgment. A cynic is characterized by a generalized lack of hope and faith in humanity. A cynic individual thinks humanity is adulterated by things like materialism, greed, desire, opinions, you name it.
The word originated from ancient Greek where it referred to the people who rejected all the conventional things, be it religion, manner, ethics, morals, so-called decency, or anything similar to these things. To normal people, those who followed cynicism were pure outcasts and everyone loathed them.
In essence, cynicism is the attitude that has the audacity to condemn the ongoing social and ethical values. They have a different lens through which they see the world, and it is mostly made of distrust and doubt. One example of a famous cynic is Diogenes whose attitude and heretic deeds even caught the attention of Alexander the Great.
Nihilism
Nihilism was coined by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi and popularized by the Russian author Ivan Turgenev. Nihilism emphasizes the meaninglessness of life and that life, as seen from far away, has no value.
The meaning of nihilism is deeper so much so that there are different branches of it, for example, existential nihilism.
Existential nihilism means that the life of a human or the whole of humanity is insignificant in front of the whole universe.
Metaphysical nihilism
It denies and questions all sorts of existence. It can be described as a sort of skepticism. Nothing that exists is true for them, not even themselves.
Moral nihilism
Moral nihilism questions morality. The morality and the ethics that have been invented so far by humanity have no concreteness in front of moral nihilists. There exists no right or wrong for them.
Ontological nihilism
Ontological nihilism emphasizes that there is no ‘reality’ whatsoever. It is just an illusion that has been created by humanity just like anything else.
Political nihilism
Political nihilism denies and questions the existence of family, law, or even the government. They believe that there is no need for such groups and they simply exist because they have become a tradition of the whole of humanity.
Solipsism
Solipsism is centered on the theory that anything outside the mind is ephemeral and the only truth is ‘self’. The idea is- anything outside one’s mind is uncertain and can’t be pursued.
Relativism
Relativism is the field where all the biases come. It believes in the fact that the views and perceptions individuals hold ultimately lead to overall differences. Everything that a person sees or hears is a result of the relativism of the individual he/she is hearing it from.
Agnosticism
It is the belief that the existence of God can’t be proven. It is unknown and will remain so. It shows that there is a lack of evidence that favors the existence of a god or its inexistence.
Conclusion
I will cover the other -isms later. Till then, try to understand the ones I have mentioned here.
