Happy and content nihilists

Would a person who never, not even in childhood, believed in objective meaning and value, feel that her life is without subjective purpose and meaning?

I do not think so.

I think many, if not most existential nihilists used to believe in objective value and that this loss has warped their sense of purpose, in that nothing seems to amount to truly being meaningful anymore. But I do not see how this follows. The question is why we would want there to be objective meaning in the first place. Certainly, it would bring security, but the odds are that an objective meaning would not align itself with your subjective values and might rather demand that you sacrifice something important to you - such as a loved one. This seems like a terrible loss, one that most of us would not want. If so, then what is so awful about embracing a subjective purpose and meaning instead?

I think a better (and naturalistic) understanding of meaning and purpose is to view it as function of a person's concerns, i.e. that which is important to that person. Because of our human nature, we do not really have a choice in having concerns, emotions desires and values. So let our talk and feelings of meaningfulness and purpose refer to these instead.

/r/nihilism Thread