Author: M. Farahi Tojegi
The Evolution of Nihilism and Its Opposition to Religious Faith (Part 7)
General Characteristics of Cosmo-Centric Nihilism
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Cosmo-centric nihilism possesses a non-religious and polytheistic nature and represents one of the manifestations of the rule of Taghut (false authority). Although in some tendencies of cosmo-centric nihilism certain signs of a form of materialism can be observed, overall, in Greek-Roman cosmo-centric nihilism, materialism is not the dominant or ruling aspect. Indeed, in the ideas of thinkers such as Anaxagoras, Democritus, and Epicurus, we encounter a pre-modern Greek form of materialism which aligns with the primary features of cosmo-centric nihilism. This form, however, is not explicitly and openly materialistic or atheistic, yet the spirit governing all tendencies and manifestations of Greek-Roman nihilism is entirely non-religious, and this stems from the very essence of nihilism within it.
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Greek-Roman nihilism is cosmo-centric—that is, it assumes the cosmos (the universe, the world) as the center of all affairs, and in some cases even attributes to it a kind of sanctity or something similar. In ancient Western nihilism, the cosmos functions as a veil concealing the light of Truth, the sun of Reality, and divine authority, thereby causing heedlessness of them.
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Cosmo-centric nihilism is secular, but its secularism is not humanistic. The secularism of ancient Western nihilism is cosmo-centric. While it has a non-religious and polytheistic essence, it is at the same time intertwined with certain distorted mythological elements. In ancient Western secularism, there is heedlessness—and beyond that, forgetfulness—toward sacred truth; however, an insistence on total desacralization is not always present. This cosmo-centric secularism is not defined or realized under the framework of self-founded human subjectivity; instead, it seeks the basis of legislation and the ordering of affairs in the cosmos and cosmic order. Yet its inner essence remains taghuti and nihilistic.
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The metaphysics of cosmo-centric nihilism, in some manifestations, contains anxiety-ridden and skeptical tendencies within philosophical, ethical, and literary discussions. Although these tendencies are not universal across all areas of ancient Western thought and literature—and perhaps cannot be seen as the dominant aspect of cosmo-centric nihilism—there are certainly periods in which signs of such skepticism and spiritual-ethical anxiety appear.
For example, in the themes of certain Greek tragedies, in aspects of Sophist doctrines, and in the positions of schools such as the Cynics and Skeptics, this anxiety can be seen. Alongside these philosophical and ethical anxieties, significant efforts appear in various streams of Greek philosophy—such as those of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—to overcome such anxieties. Skeptical and relativistic anxiety is inherently part of nihilism and does not leave Greek-Roman cosmo-centrism; it appears in some tendencies both before and after the Socratic-Aristotelian period and emerges as a serious issue during various stages of the development of cosmo-centric nihilism.
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One characteristic of cosmo-centric nihilism is the influential presence of something known as “fate” (fatal), a vague and ambiguous concept. In the Greek worldview, fate is in constant tension with the will of the gods as well as with the actions of Greek heroes. Fate appears as a powerful force that sometimes even subdues the gods. This tragic fate is different from the religious concept of qada and qadar (divine decree and predestination), and its existential cycle reflects a kind of absurd and meaningless worldview. The dominance of fate in Greek thought symbolizes the depth of futility and the weariness of a perpetual, overpowering cycle.
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Cosmo-centric nihilism replaces the remnants of ancient moral and spiritual values with sets of fame-seeking ambitions, self-interested desires, and secular forms of ambition under titles such as “honor” and “virtue.” Emphasis on worldly concepts, secular ambitions, self-display, and the praise of deception and falsehood for material gain—while calling all of this “virtue”—was a phenomenon that began in the Homeric worldview, the earliest form of cosmo-centric nihilism, and continued in different ways throughout the history of ancient Western civilization.
Whenever nihilism manifests, it produces a system of worldly, secular values rooted in instinctual desires, power-seeking, and materialistic ambitions, all disguised under various titles as “virtues” or “ethical principles.” Greek cosmo-centric nihilism, as the first link in the chain of Western nihilistic metaphysics and a form of taghut-centered worldview, expressed and expanded its secular-nihilistic teachings through the so-called “Homeric virtues,” later through Sophist approaches such as those of Prodicus and Gorgias, and further through the ethical-philosophical systems of Plato and Aristotle, which sought earthly happiness, rational balance, and worldly tranquility independent of serious belief in the Hereafter and divine revelation.
This, in turn, influenced many later Greek thinkers, who became entangled in various crises typical of nihilistic thought.
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Ancient Western nihilism is rooted in the forgetting of the primordial covenant, the neglect of divine authority, and the turning away from sacred, revelatory guidance. In Greek-Roman cosmo-centric nihilism, the truth of monotheism, revelation, and heavenly law became shrouded in layers of doubt, ambiguity, and denial—and ultimately forgotten.
