You 're a nihilist/absurdist/existentialist , Charlie Brown

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i thought i 'd write a little poem
about something that i need knowin'
what is the difference between these three
areas of philosophy ?

nihilism 's one ,
absurdism 's another ,
the last is existentialism
help me out my brother ! (! )

thank you thank you thank you ,
thank you thanks so much .
thank you thank you thanks , so long ,
and thanks for all the fish ! (? )

Hmmm.... well, this is a poem but the three philosophies are related.

A very good source seems to be the wiki here It shows the differences between the philosophies, which do exist. Of course, BrownieCharles was likely trying to make a philosophical statement by denying the differences and was thus not looking at these matters with an analytical framework but probably more of a nihilistic/absurdist framework.

Apparently I tend to display very nihilistic tendencies, interesting but I figured I did.

It depends on whom you ask.

Nihilism is really a term of derision. I am not aware of anyone who calls herself or himself a nihilist. The term is sometimes ascribed to Nietzsche, but I think it reflects a misunderstanding of his views.

Existentialism is often connected with Sartre (and with Kierkegaard, though he never used the term). Basically, existentialists would claim that angst (anxiety, fear, dread, etc.) can lead one to a search for meaning.

Aburdism is frequently attributed to Camus (though perhaps unfairly) and others. In some ways, it can be considered a more pessimistic version of existentialism. Some absurdists might say, "Well, you can search for meaning if you like, but you should never forget that life is completely absurd."


Cheers,

Mark

One way to describe these three views is:

Nihilism= life has no meaning.
Existentialism= all meaning in life is personally created
Absurdism=existentialism + the main struggle of finding personal meaning in life is the absurdity of the human condition (hoping for eternal meaning to your life in an indifferent universe).