From m-w.com:
Main Entry: ni·hil·ism Pronunciation: 'nI-(h)&-"li-z&m, 'nE- Function: noun Etymology: German Nihilismus, from Latin nihil nothing -- more at NIL
1 a : a viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless
b : a doctrine that denies any objective ground of truth and especially of moral truths
2 a : a doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibility
b capitalized : the program of a 19th century Russian party advocating revolutionary reform and using terrorism and assassination
- ni·hil·ist /-list/ noun or adjective - ni·hil·is·tic /"nI-(h)&-'lis-tik, "nE-/ adjective
A few months ago, I spoke with a friend who is a successful artist (contemporary paintings), with galleries in New York and California, and successful exhibitions elsewhere. He described in detail how the ten most successful contemporary artists in the world are devoted to an anti-art, anti-Enlightenment agenda. Their method is to insist that "art is whatever I say it is," and there is a significant audience of wealthy people who are willing to pay exorbitant prices for items that discerning individuals would term "junk." Even though the artists depend upon artistic ideals to define their life work, their objective is to pull those artistic ideals down around them. They want to destroy the Enlightenment and all that has flowed from it, so that we return to the Dark Ages. How is that for what GHWB called "the vision thing?"