Can Nihilism be reconciled with Determinism?

Q. Can Nihilism be reconciled with Determinism?

Recently one of my friends asked my view on this issue. This simple question represents the moral crisis which we are facing today as human beings and will continue to face as time goes by. Today, nihilism may not attract much people apart from those familiar with the tradition of continental philosophy but soon this specter will haunt the ordinary individual too. It already does but we refuse to think about it. The burden is great. Denial is the way too be. However, the only way to tackle the problem of nihilism is to confront it head-on once and for all. Escapism is not the cure for nihilism, in fact it allows nihilism to seep into our unconscious mind and then subsequently affects our general outlook on life.

Now coming back to the question, can an individual cognizant of his own finitude, perplexed by the existential questions of life, argue in favor of 'Deterministic nihilism'?

Nihilism is a much abused term. Therefore to have any kind of meaningful debate on it we need to elucidate the term a bit more. Nihilism is a peculiar or should I say radical kind of skepticism that denies all objective claims about 'T'ruth, morality, metaphysics, politics etc. Determinism on the other hand is a metaphysical position which believes that all universe and everything within it is governed by certain immutable laws (be it physical or psychological). Now to say that one is a moral or metaphysical nihilist makes sense. But to say that one is a deterministic nihilist does not.It is sheer perversity of reason to claim that that deterministic nihilism is the most honest philosophy; as the claim itself is incoherent. How can we uphold a metaphysical position and then claim to be a nihilist?

To put it differently if physical or psychological laws determine everything then they must also determine the answers to our existential and moral questions too. And if they do determine our morality as well as meaning of life then nihilism becomes an impossibility. A so called determinist nihilist may counter this by saying that a determinist nihilist was destined by those very laws to be a nihilist and nothing else. This again is a hopeless argument. Assuming that he was destined or determined to be a nihilist by those very laws; still he will not be able to believe in his own nihilism because nihilism by its very nature will deprive him of all the luxuries of objectivity. Nihilism deprives him the order that determinism imposes on him.

The point is one can either be a determinist or a nihilist. Determinism means order, nihilism means chaos. Determinism believes in answers, nihilism in questions. To say that the meaninglessness of the world is determined by certain laws is incoherent because those very laws will hold some kind of meaning for the universe. Similarly, nihilism's denial of values cannot hide behind a crude sort of hard determinism because in denying the objectivity of all values a nihilist will have to deny their origin (deterministic laws) too.

In a nut-shell, Nihilism is not only eating individuals; it is eating itself too. Its the most self defeating philosophy ever.