Therapeutic nihilism

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Therapeutic nihilism is the contention that it is impossible to cure people or societies of their ills through treatment. Another definition stems from William M. Johnston's cultural history of the late Austrian double monarchy: Indifference to political and social reform. In medicine, it was connected to the idea that many "cures" do more harm than good, and that one should instead encourage the body to heal itself. Michel de Montaigne espoused this view in his Essais in 1580. This position was later popular, among other places, in France in the 1820s and 1830s, but has mostly faded away in the modern era due to the development of provably effective medicines such as antibiotics.

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