Even those who deny all meaning tacitly affirm things that matter to them

Evidence

In his philosophical treatises, Schopenhauer argued that nothing matters in the grand scheme of an absurd, indifferent universe; consequently, nothing is worth striving for. But Schopenhauer was personally bothered by this, which means that it mattered to him that there seemed to be no meaning or purpose in life. Further, it was clearly important to Schopenhauer, rather ironically, to convince others that nothing mattered. And he continued to produce philosophical works until the end of his life instead of committing suicide; that evidently mattered to him as well. So, Yalom notes, once individuals relinquish their intellectualized galactic view of existence, there are virtually always aspects of life that do matter to them. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 750

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the terror management paradox that denying meaning is itself meaningful action — connects to the book’s core thesis and to Becker’s denial-of-death framing.
• SEED: Article angle: the self-undermining consistency of radical nihilism — how philosophers of meaninglessness lived entangled lives.