Draft:Postnihilism

Postnihilism is a philosophy founded by Saladdin Ahmed Bahozde in his book Revolutionary Hope after Nihilism. The idea is based on another theory by the same philosopher called “the dialectics of hope and hopelessness.” In a few words, hope is motivated by its absence. In Totalitarian Space and the Destruction of Aura, defining the "dialectics of hope and hopelessness," he writes, "hope is, thus, most meaningful when and where its presence is impossible, because only then can it reshape the world negatively." Then, he adds, "in hopeless situations, the existing world must be actively rejected for other possibilities to crystalize." This becomes the essence of his philosophy of postnihilism.

For the postnihilist, grasping the present reality with all hopelessness, that is, without self-deceiving positivity, without denialism, and without illusions, mythologies, etc., is the absolutely essential for creating real hope. False hope is easy to make, but it can only make things worse. Bahozde gives examples of religions as sources of false hope, which always make things worse. He is very critical of not only theology but “liberation theology” as well, and his examples include both Christian and Islamic movements from the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. "Liberation theology" is a contradiction in terms. To correct the problem, Bahozde calls for "liberation from theology."

Postnihilism is courage not deceive yourself, but it is more than just a psychological formula. It is a social and political philosophy for individual and collective emancipation. As the postnihilist philosopher put it: Postnihilism is a philosophy rooted in the experiences of those who have been marginalized on multiple accounts, and it is articulated with an awareness of the politics and privileges of knowledge production. It is a philosophy that resists hegemony on every level, while teaching that a truly free life can only be initiated from the point of despair because such a life would not be founded on social privilege; rather, it would be resilient because of the hopeless circumstances which it had already resisted. Postnihilism, in short, is a transformative and egalitarian philosophy for individuals and groups to confront and move beyond the realities and causes of suffering, irrationality, violence, oppression, exploitation, and social and historical injustices. It forms the philosophy of negativity, and it tries revive the negative core of Marxism.