虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)

きょむしゅぎ
noun
nihilism
formalacademicabstract
1. nihilism
The philosophical position that life, morality, or knowledge has no inherent meaning, value, or foundation. The standard Japanese translation of the European philosophical term.
彼(かれ)は虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)に傾倒(けいとう)している。
He is drawn to nihilism.
ニーチェの思想(しそう)は虚無主義(きょむしゅぎ)と深(ふか)い関係(かんけい)がある。
Nietzsche's thought has a deep connection with nihilism.
A nihilistic mood spread among young people in the postwar period.

Compound of 虚無(きょむ) (emptiness; nothingness) + 主義(しゅぎ) (-ism; doctrine). Used both in academic philosophy and as a literary descriptor of a worldview.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • ニヒリズム: nihilism — loanword; common in critical and pop-culture writing
  • 厭世主義(えんせいしゅぎ): pessimism — about world-weariness, not absence of meaning
  • 懐疑主義(かいぎしゅぎ): skepticism — doubts knowledge, not value