Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit
by Joshua Foa Dienstag
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Description
Pessimism claims an impressive following--from Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche, to Freud, Camus, and Foucault. Yet "pessimist" remains a term of abuse--an accusation of a bad attitude--or the diagnosis of an unhappy psychological state. Pessimism is thought of as an exclusively negative stance that inevitably leads to resignation or despair. Even when pessimism looks like utter truth, we are told that it makes the worst of a bad situation. Bad for the individual, worse for the show more species--who would actually counsel pessimism? Joshua Foa Dienstag does. In Pessimism, he challenges the received wisdom about pessimism, arguing that there is an unrecognized yet coherent and vibrant pessimistic philosophical tradition. More than that, he argues that pessimistic thought may provide a critically needed alternative to the increasingly untenable progressivist ideas that have dominated thinking about politics throughout the modern period. Laying out powerful grounds for pessimism's claim that progress is not an enduring feature of human history, Dienstag argues that political theory must begin from this predicament. He persuasively shows that pessimism has been--and can again be--an energizing and even liberating philosophy, an ethic of radical possibility and not just a criticism of faith. The goal--of both the pessimistic spirit and of this fascinating account of pessimism--is not to depress us, but to edify us about our condition and to fortify us for life in a disordered and disenchanted universe. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
"Pessimism is. . .a freedom to cut yourself loose from a project that everyone insists you participate in. Pessimism cuts us free of an optimism that is demanded of us. Pessimism cuts us out of a social activity we were enrolled in without our assent."
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Author Information
4 Works 145 Members
Joshua Foa Dienstag is Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2006
- People/Characters
- Albert Camus
- Epigraph
- All the tragedies which we can imagine
return in the end to the one and only tragedy:
the passage of time.
--SIMONE WEIL - Dedication
- for Jenn
- Publisher's editor
- Malcolm, Ian; Munk, Jon; Curtis, Jim
Classifications
- Genres
- Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics and Government, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 149.6 — Philosophy and Psychology Philosophical schools of thought Other philosophical systems and doctrines Pessimism
- LCC
- B829 .D54 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Philosophy (General) By period Modern Special topics and schools of philosophy
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 112
- Popularity
- 282,062
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.94)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
