Book Review: "Nothing and Everything" by Val N. Tine

I'm not normally a big fan of reading philosophical works unless they are about my personal favourite theory - nihilism. Nihilism is really the only philosophical theory that makes perfect sense to me because it doesn't try to disillusion you with buzzwords and fallacies, false justifications and is pretty against accepting something as the truth because lots of people believe its true. Nihilism encourages the person to think for themselves, but to also not accept morality at face value, to question exactly why these unwritten rules are in place and to subvert against them in the process. However, the darkness of nihilism is also attractive. The fact that it really doesn't matter whether we live or die seems like a terrible way to live your life but the author here of Nothing and Everything tries to make it attractive.

The book starts off with stating what we already know about nihilism and how we would already feel if we were nihilistic. It asks the all important questions and gets to the root of what many nihilists may have in common if we were to believe in or take interest in the philosophy. I will admit, I'm not sure how I personally feel about being asked so many questions to begin with in a nonfiction text - but in terms of how well it is written to help the reader understand what is being taught, it does a very good job.

As the book moves on, we get taught things in stages. The stage I possibly liked the most is that nothing that is stated as a moral justification can ever be proven. There is something really uncomfortable about knowing that and yet, there is something really damned true about it as well. Absolutely nothing that is a moral justification or 'something you're supposed to do' can actually be proven. For example (and this is my own example, not one from the text), we could have a young man who doesn't want to get a job. The thing is he is supposed to, because he has to earn money to live, right? Wrong. What if his response is 'what if I don't want to live?' Then where does that leave the 'something we are supposed to do'? In the middle of nowhere.

Another great thing about this book is that it isn't overloaded with jargon and philosophical theories and therefore, can be read by someone who didn't go and study in higher education. I love it when nonfiction texts try to widen their audiences to fit as many people as possible. There's a phrase that states that if you can't explain something to a five-year-old then you probably don't know what it is yourself. I think that is the damn truth.

One more thing I did enjoy about this book is that it is constantly asking the audience questions. Though personally, it isn't really my style - it does make the book far more understanadble and far more personable. It gets the reader to connect with the text on a deeper and more personal level and finds itself being able to illicit answers from the reader even though the author themselves cannot hear them. The interaction is necessary for the way the theory is being explained.

In conclusion, I have found this text absolutely delightful to read because it is a whole new way of looking at nihilism. It teaches us that nihilism is a good thing and that we should all really try our best to think of it as such when we are in there. We should all try and embrace nihilism properly.