"Nihilism" may be a term we hear more and more frequently as Senate Republicans continue to stammer
out "justifications" for voting "no" on impeaching Trump. Maybe we'd better understand what this somewhat obscure term means.
While scholars and authors of philosophy textbooks may divide the concept of nihilism into existential nihilism and moral nihilism and metaphysical nihilism and---so on and so on, for 99% of us, the working definition of nihilism is "Nothing matters". Nihilists deny that morality exists and they hold that concepts such as right and wrong or truth an falsity have no meaning. They refuse to acknowledge or be bound by laws or rules or customs. They believe we are each entitled to do as we please without regard to how our actions may offend or injure others.
"Nihilism" is the best one-word description of Trump and his defenders that I have encountered. You may not agree, but it is a term that you just might find useful in conversations with Trumpist relatives at your Thanksgiving table this year.
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