Eldeven Valoskenos

 The Types of Nihilism We are in a meaning crisis. The spectre of Nihilism looms, casting a shadow over us all.  Nihilism has arisen because of the faults in our collective philosophy. True Nihilism neither prescribes nor proscribes any action or non-action either way. If one were truly a Nihilist, and we were to say that true Nihilism suggests that there is no reason to act on any value, even one's impulse to scratch an itch or eat food, it would still require some kind of motivation to hold fast in being a consistent Nihilist; it would require some motivation - which would exist for some reason - to resist these impulses. And thus a true Nihilist is completely indistinguishable from anybody else. But in practice, almost nobody recognises this; least of all the Nihilists themselves. Were this our criterion for Nihilism, nobody would be a Nihilist. Instead, Nihilism is therefore somebody who is simply in the position of not affirming (either by omission, or by outright negati...

  Metaphysics Sensation, Motivation, Ideation, Intention Sensation = Sights, sounds, smells, etc. Motivation = Pleasure & Pain Ideation = Concepts, ideas Intention = Desires, aversions

  Axiology Pleasure & Pain constitute the faculty of motivation.  The faculty of motivation is the base principle of change or motion in the psyche, leading to all action people undertake; moving muscles, shifting attention, thinking, and so on.  The Nature of Pleasure & Pain Pleasure & Pain are like sensations in that they are an example of qualia , however unlike sensations they possess the quality of valence. Pleasure & Pain are like sensations in that they form the basis of values , just as sensations form the basis of beliefs.   Pleasure  is the psychological force that drives toward its presence. It is the essence of goodness. Pain  is the psychological force that drives toward its absence. It is the essence of badness. The above explanation gives some indication for why we might call pleasure positive , or more clearly, why we might call pain negative . Pain drives toward its negation . An important implication: One can, in principle,...