Existential Nihilism

One of the most detrimental elements of society goes largely unrecognized. Nihilism’s negative effects can be seen throughout our culture. Nihilism makes many appearances in pop culture, numbs society into a lull, and yet at the same time offers some hope. While traditional nihilism is often discussed in terms of extreme skepticism and relativism, for most of the 20th century it has been associated with the belief that life is meaningless. This new type of philosophy is called existential nihilism. Existential nihilism begins with the notion that the world is without meaning or purpose. Under this idea, existence itself, all action, suffering, and feeling is senseless and lacking a point.

Pop culture, movies and television especially,
Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

The point is that the passage refers to a system of values and meaning by which one could lead their life and make moral decisions. However, that system has no connection with Jules’s life and the passage is actually meaningless to him, as he realizes late in the movie.

The movie also comments on nihilism shining through in our language. Vincent comments on how odd the differences of what we call our Quarter Pounder and Britain’s Royal with cheese are. Yet when a Hispanic cab driver asks the character Bruce what his name means, he replies “This is America honey; our name don’t mean shit.” The message is that our words now do not mean anything beyond exactly what they mean; they have no connotation of anything
Due to the absence of the ability to make value judgments, and the lack of meaning in their lives, Jules and Vincent are in a hierarchy of power with their crime boss, Marsellus Wallace. Marsellus gives them a system of worth, with him at top and them below him. Anything has value to them if it Marsellus gives it value. The briefcase that Vincent and Jules are in charge of bringing back to Marsellus demonstrates this perfectly. We never learn what is inside this briefcase, but that is strategic. Characters reactions to what is inside show us that it is desirable, but that does not matter. That’s the point; the contents are completely irrelevant. All that matters is that Marsellus wants the briefcase back, and his wish is their command. With a proper value system, they would be able to judge what is justifiable in returning the briefcase. Without it, the briefcase is of ultimate value, and all means are justified, including