How does this image help you arrive at a definition of Nihilism?

NihilismA Simple definition

On a straightforward level, nihilism, argues that life is without objective

meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

Task One(a)Circle the key words that are confusing and need explanation(b)How can these ideas be grouped around a common focus or

theme?

• Literally nothingness / Complete rejection / Destruction of beliefs and values / Antipathy / Self mutilation / Knowledge dependent on sensory experience alone / Animosity towards life / Free will / Rejection that violence is bad / Life has no meaning or value /Morality doesn’t exist / Rejection of capitalism and consumerism

• Moral values are contrived / Despair / Nihilism is not an absence of hope

• Pain (and other sensory experiences become the means to awaken to real life) /

• “Eden will rise from the rubble of cities that have been cleansed from the poison of corporate logos.”

Fight Club: Nihilism

Capitalism: The Emasculated Man

Last lesson we discussed how ‘FightClub’ explores themes ofemasculation and the ‘modern mans’rejection of capitalism/consumerism.

All of you have now developed asound understanding that the men in‘Fight Club’ feel emasculated as aresult of late capitalism. What wenow need to do is explore howFincher represents the rejection ofcapitalism; how do the men rebelagainst their feeling of emasculation?

The Fight Club

In order to achieve an A grade in the exam, you need to ensure that:

Arguments are developed with subtlety, showing a keen respect for thequality of evidence and a natural scepticism.

You have all demonstrated that you understand how Jack is feeling and why.You now need to explore how the philosophy of Nihilism is linked to hisfeelings of despair and emasculation

The answers to these questions are not made clear in the film and thereforeyou have an opportunity to develop your own argument here.

Nihilism‘The belief that nothing has any value, especially that religious and moral principles have no value’-Oxford advanced learners dictionary‘Complete rejection of the existence of human knowledge and values or denial of the possibility of making any useful distinctions among things.’-www.philiospohypages.com‘nihilism represents an attitude of total skepticism regarding objective truth claims.’-Stan Grenz

A total rejection of life

When we speak of rejection of life, we are not talking about a refusal to social norms such as ‘drugs are bad’ or ‘don't speed’ . We speak of nihilism as a complete dismissal of everything; from the consequence of our actions to the way a colour may have a meaning. Everything thing that we see, touch, smell, hold is irrelevant and thus nothing actually matters but freedom.A world in which we have no morals; no objects; no ideological ideals; nothing at all.

• So how does nihilism relate to Fight Club?

• The main use of Nihilism is mainly used by David Fincher in order to display an exaggerated hate for capitalism; the people brainwashed by the system’s ideology and the companies that have extreme power.

• Nihilism in Fight club is used as a motivator for the audience. Fincher displays how when we are free of boundaries and morality we can choose to do whatever we like.

• We will explore how nihilism is shown in Fight Club as well as how this feature effects the audience.

Nihilism and Fight club

Task 2Watch the opening three minutes

of this montage from the film

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxn0389SKZQ

Which three scenes and which three quotes, in your opinion are powerfully connected to the Philosophy of Nihilism?

Task 3 Nihilism and The Chemical burn

Watch the chemical burn scene and mind map the features of Nihilism that would appear to be directly relevant to this scene

Refer to dialogue

Camerawork

Mise en scene

sound• "it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.."

• "it's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything..

The Chemical Burn

“This is a chemical burn. It will hurt more than you've ever been burned before. You will have a scar”

Tyler Durden: *slaps the Narrator, throws away goggles* Listen to me! You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you, never wanted you, and in all probability, he HATES you. It's not the worst thing that can happen. Narrator: It isn't? Tyler Durden: We don't NEED Him! Narrator: *squirms* We don't - we don't - ! Tyler Durden: We're God's unwanted children, SO BE IT!

In the eyes of a nihilist, knowledge is experience we attain from our senses.So that moral and theological claims are meaningless. In a number of ways these theoriesAnd ideas are implanted into the film, Fight club slowly rejects the idea of capitalism andConsumerism that people hold strongly in our culture. Morally we as a culture see violenceAs bad. Pain, or other sensory experiences become the means to awaken to real life. In ourScarification scene we see this; Tyler says “this is the most beautiful moment of your life, don'tDeal with it the way those dead people do.” which is another critique of the idea that ourWhole society is almost lifeless and conforming to the conventions.

Its this same scene that gives us possibly the most insight into the idea of nihilism in fight clubMany forms of nihilism are naturally paired with atheism. If there is no god there can be noMoral absolutes. Tyler's monologue in the kitchen is a form of nihilism that is not atheistic, heAccepts gods presence but chooses to see him as an enemy.

This is a chemical burn......

What is knowledge to a Nihilist?

In the eyes of a nihilist, knowledge is not information we read from books, it is experience we gain from our senses

OR

In the eyes of a nihilist, knowledge is information we read from books and our studies, it is experience we gain from history

Bringing it all together

(Using the PEA model) Explore how the chemical burn scene offers us an insight into Fincher’s use of Nihilism in Fight Club.

Or

Using a scene of your choice, evaluate how Fincher uses nihilism in order to challenge issues of ‘the modern mans’ struggle in contemporary society.