Pragmatic Nihilism

My library is extensive. I also read the books I acquire. It might interest some to know that I have studied the Bible, and many other spiritual works. I appreciate the finer points of philosophy. I have also studied the history of empire from antiquity through 1500 AD...

For those who don't know, Nietzsche is the philosopher who famously said that "God is dead." While I disagree with many of his conclusions, the idea of a world devoid of intrinsic morality imposed by a divine entity, is an interesting thought experiment.

What are we left with?

That emptiness is the abyss of Nihilism.

The abyss is a black hole. Once you enter it becomes progressively more difficult to escape its pull. Suicide is common.

The only question that really matters is; how do we return to the light?

Pragmatism is the understanding that the appropriateness of choice is context dependent. We do what we must.

What I did is construct a moral framework that matters to the self. This was hard personal work. There is a difference between evil and malevolence. Evil can follow rules. Altruism, while noble, can become malevolent with too many strings attached. There IS a line, but it is cloaked in a field of gray.

My advice is to walk along that edge, and pay special attention to what happens to those who cross over.

Maybe Descartes was right and this is all one big simulation run by a demon. Be they Demon or God, there is something defining the line, and I find it best to show respect.

To escape the darkness one must become the light.

Only then can one feel its weight.