NIETZSCHE AND NIHILISM: THE DENIAL OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH

 Nihilism is basically the same thing as moral relativism and postmodernism. They all deny the objective reality of any moral or spiritual truth. Instead, they are just a matter of what we subjectively choose for ourselves. The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, said it this way:

• “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”  

However, this statement and all of the statements of postmodernism are logically incoherent; they don’t make any logical sense. How so? Nietzsche had claimed that there was no “correct way.” However, by making this dogmatic statement, he had claimed that there was a correct way – HIS way!

Well, what is his way? His insistence that the correct way “does not exist!” (How does he know this?)

I’m not picking on his wording or phraseology. The incoherence is part of his nihilistic postmodern worldview. He asserts that everything is personal and subjective. However, in order to make this assertion, he must resort to using an objective statement of truth, something he claims that we cannot do.

How do you talk to someone like Nietzsche, and there are many Nietzsches around? I would simply ask him:

• Are you absolutely and objectively certain that a “correct way… does not exist?”

If he answers “yes,” then I would point out that:

• Well, doesn’t your assertion just reflect your OWN thinking?

If, instead, he answers that “no” and that he is merely just expressing the way he feels or sees things, then I would respond:

• If this is just the way you FEEL, well, who cares!

The Proof of God from Evil

Does the presence of evil discount the existence of a good and omnipotent God? No! Actually, the presence of evil proves the existence of God! Here’s how the argument goes (I thank W.L. Craig for this):

1.     Evil Exist

2.     Evil (and objective moral truths/laws) cannot exist without an objective basis for evil – God!

3.     God must exist!

The fact that evil exist is self-evident. However, premise #2 requires a little explanation. Without an immutable, universal, all-wise, and good God, objective evil cannot exist. If there is nothing greater than the human being, then there is nothing greater than their millions of differing moral opinion, and there is nothing to make my opinion any more correct than yours. Consequently, there is no objective standard by which we can say genocide and sex slavery is wrong.

Also, if morality doesn’t have an immutable source, then it changes and cannot be taken seriously. If you tell me that rape is wrong, I can simply respond, “Maybe not next year!”

If the source is not universal, then we encounter other absurdities. If murder is wrong here but not in Hawaii, I can go to Hawaii if I want to murder. In any event, a moral law that is not universal is laughable.

Also, if the moral law is not given by a good and all-wise God, then there is little reason to follow it apart from rewards and punishments – something that can only breed cynicism. Consequently, God must exist if evil and objective moral law exist.