Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

NIHILISM

164

Power (his 1880s notebooks, published
posthumously).

NIHILISM. From the Latin nihil,
meaning “nothing.” The denial of values.
Advocates of radical orthodoxy claim
that the Western, Enlightenment tradi-
tion ultimately leads to nihilism.

NIRVANA. From the Pali nibbāna,
meaning “to blow out” or “extinguish.”
According to Buddhism, nirvana, or
Enlightenment, is the ultimate goal for
which we ought to strive. It is the only
way to overcome the suffering (dukkha)
of life and end the cycle of death and re-
birth (samsara). To attain nirvana, one
must shed the illusion of selfhood and
“blow out” all greed, hatred, and delusion.
Nirvana is similar to the Hindu concept
of moksha.

NOMINALISM. According to nominal-
ism, there are no Platonic forms or univer-
sals or abstract objects like sets. There are
concrete individual things that we classify
linguistically into groups or classes of
things, but “classes” do not refer to anything
more than concrete individual things.

NON-REALISM. See ANTI-REALISM.

NON-THEISM. A philosophy that is
described as non-theistic is usually one
that does not entail or presuppose athe-
ism; it is simply a philosophy that does
not explicitly or implicitly imply theism.

NONMALEFICENCE. The precept that

one should do no harm. Some philoso-

phers (e.g., Karl Popper, W. D. Ross, and

John Rawls) hold that the duty of nonma-

leficence is more stringent than the duty

to do good. The precept is pivotal to the

Hippocratic Oath: First of all, do no harm

(Primum non nocere).

NONVIOLENCE. The concept of vio-

lence is often taken to be the concept of

that which violates another living thing

either through torment, serious exploita-

tion, or killing. An advocate of non-

violence repudiates intentionally causing

or contributing to such violations. Advo-

cates of nonviolence are commonly paci-

fists, but one may distinguish between the

concepts of violence and force, according

to which violence is an unjust use of force,

thus allowing (at least in principle) some

justified uses of force; e.g., a police force

acting under principle of just governance.

NORMATIVITY. Normative require-

ments are authoritative or binding involv-

ing what one should do (normativity in

ethics) or should believe (in epistemology

and logic).

NOUMENAL. In Kant’s philosophy, the

noumenal world is the world as it is in

itself as opposed to the phenomenal

world which is the world of experience.

NOUVELLE THEOLOGIE. See KARL

RAHNER.