The Sunny Nihilist

A Declaration of the Pleasure of Pointlessness

Wendy Syfret

• Publisher: Chronicle Prism
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781797215808
• eBook ISBN: 9781797215815
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

A positively rebellious take on a traditionally negative philosophy offers an antidote for our anxious times.

Career success, a beautiful life, a beautiful Instagram account—what's the point? In a world where meaning has become twisted into a form of currency that everyone is very keen to cash in on, journalist Wendy Syfret invites you to change the way you think about the way you think.

In her seminal work, The Sunny Nihilist, Syfret presents the optimism in Nihilism, encouraging us to dismantle our self-care and self-centered way of living and accept a life more or less ordinary. Syfret re-examines the meaning of worth, value, time, happiness, success, and connection, and guides us towards the alternative path of pointless pleasure.

When you let go of the idea that everything must have purpose, you will find relief from stress, exhaustion, and anxiety. Most importantly, you can embrace the opportunity to enjoy the moment, the present, the chaos and luck of being alive at all. The Sunny Nihilist is an inspiring call to action and survival adaptation for modern life.

Endnotes

6: He who has a why: Viktor Emil Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (India: Better Yourself Books, 2003), 72.

21: exploited by the aristocracy: Kristian Petrov, “‘Strike Out, Right and Left!’: A Conceptual-Historical Analysis of 1860s Russian Nihilism and Its Notion of Negation,” Studies in East European Thought 71 (2019): 73–97.

23: needles in supermarket strawberries: Kristian Silva, Ellie Sibson, and staff, “Strawberry needle contamination: Accused woman motivated by spite, court hears,” ABC News, Australia, November 12, 2018, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-12/strawberry-needle-contamination-woman-to-face-court/10486770.

24: Australian fruit industry: Ben Smee, “The Needles and the Damage Done: the Growers Hurt by Australia’s Strawberry Saboteurs,” Guardian, Australia, September 22, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/22/the-needles-and-the-damage-done-the-growers-hurt-by-australias-strawberry-saboteurs.

24: The hashtag #smashastrawb: ABC News Breakfast. “#SmashaStrawb: Social Media Lights Up with Inventive Strawberry Recipes,” ABC News, Australia, September 19, 2018, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-19/social-media-shares-strawberry-recipes-after-needle-scare/10280260.

24: assistance package for the strawberry industry: ABC Rural, “Strawberry Needle Contamination: Industry to Get $1m Federal Government Assistance Package,” ABC News, Australia, September 19, 2018, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-19/strawberry-farmers-to-get-federal-government-1-million-dollars/10280682a.

24: unsubstantiated internet claims: “Strawberry Needle: Copycat Case Prompts Warning from Authorities to Cut Up Fruit,” ABC News, Australia, September 17, 2018, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-13/strawberry-recall-needle-found-in-fruit/10240956.

25: supervisor who acted out of spite: “Strawberry Needle Contamination: Accused Woman Motivated by Spite, Court Hears”

25: six counts of contamination of goods: Cheryl Goodenough, “Strawberry Needle Case: My Ut Trinh Charged with Contamination of Goods at Berrylicious,” news.com.au, Australia, June 15, 2020, https://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/courts-law/strawberry-needle-case-my-ut-trinh-charged-with-contamination-of-goods-at-berrylicious/news-story/40ae2673397e04e516f896eb10a949d4.

26: beside streams full of fish: Earnest Becker, The Birth and Death of Meaning (New York: Free Press, 2010), 98.

27: inherent amorality of nihilism: Alan Pratt, “Nihilism,” Internet Encyclo­pedia of Philosophy. “Alan Pratt.” https://iep.utm.edu/nihilism/.

28: university’s 400-year history: R. Lanier Anderson, “Friedrich Nietzsche,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2017), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2017/entries/nietzsche.

28: suffered a mental breakdown: D. Hemelsoet, K. Hemelsoet, D. Devreese, “The Neurological Illness of Friedrich Nietzsche,” Acta neurologica Belgica vol. 108,1 (2008): 9–16, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18575181.

28: fracture in how his ideas: Sue Prideaux, “Far Right, Misogynist, Humourless? Why Nietzsche Is Misunderstood,” Guardian, October 6, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/06/exploding-nietzsche-myths-need-dynamiting.

29: rebirth of the human race: Simon Romero, “German Outpost Born of Racism in 1887 Blends Into Paraguay,” New York Times, May 5, 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/world/americas/german-outpost-born-of-racism-blends-into-paraguay.html.

29: mendacious race swindle: “Far Right, Misogynist, Humourless? Why Nietzsche Is Misunderstood”

30: nationalism which foments: Michael F. Duffy and Willard Mittelman, “Nietzsche’s Attitudes Toward the Jews,” Journal of the History of Ideas 49, no. 2 (1988): 301–17. Accessed April 20, 2021. doi:10.2307/2709502.

30: Nietzsche’s intense friendship: Emrys Westacott, “Why Did Nietzsche Break with Wagner?” ThoughtCo, March 4, 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/why-did-nietzsche-break-with-wagner-2670457.

31: mere dress rehearsal: Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science: With a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs (New York: Vintage Books, 1974), 286.

32: faith in reason in life: Simon May, Nietzsche on Freedom and Autonomy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 25.

35: parks banning screaming: Austin Horn, “‘Please Scream Inside Your Heart,’” Japanese Amusement Park Tells Thrill-Seekers,” NPR, July 9, 2020, https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/09/889394605/please-scream-inside-your-heart-japanese-amusement-park-tells-thrill-seekers.

36: Celebrities to Kill You: Jia Tolentino, “Love, Death, and Begging for Celebrities to Kill You.” New Yorker, June 21, 2019, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/love-death-and-begging-for-celebrities-to-kill-you.

37: Run Them Over: Gabriella Paiella, “Why Does Everyone Want Their Crushes to Run Them Over?,” The Cut, January 10, 2019, https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/people-tweeting-run-me-over-at-celebrities.html.

38: do extreme damage: Nosheen Iqbal, “‘I Want to Do Extreme Damage’: Harmony Korine’s Third Coming,” Guardian, February 24, 2016, https://www.theguardia...

Table of contents

• Stop Trying to Make Everything a Thing
• A New Kind of Nihilism
• The Myth of Meaningful Work
• Following Your Heart (Into the Void)
• Life After God
• The Dark Side of Nihilism
• Sunny Nihilism for Everyday Life
• The Pleasure of Pointlessness
• Endnotes
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author