The Myth of Meaning: 9 Nihilism as Hell — The Fear of Meaninglessness

The Problem

Just as humans seek immortal significance, we fear its absence. Nihilism — the sense that life, culture, or consciousness lacks inherent purpose — is often treated as a moral or existential abyss. Meaninglessness is imagined as a void threatening both individuals and society.

The Distortion

This fear mirrors the theological concept of hell: the punishment for failing to align with divine order. Even in secular frameworks, meaninglessness is framed as an external threat, as if significance could be lost or revoked. The result is a psychological and cultural structure that inherits theology’s punitive logic without God.

The Relational Alternative

From a relational perspective, meaning is never absolute or guaranteed. It emerges contingently through interaction and perspectival construal. The “void” is not an external threat but a feature of relational openness: new possibilities, interpretations, and alignments constantly arise. Significance is produced in the flow of relation, not possessed, lost, or suspended.

Takeaway

Nihilism as hell is theology in disguise. Relational ontology dissolves the fear of meaninglessness: significance is not given or taken, but enacted continually in relational processes across contexts and perspectives.