Philosophical Pessimism

A Question of Validity

Abstract

Pessimism is a mental condition or intellectual approach in which suffering dominates pleasure. Pessimism assumes that everything is inclined to maliciousness, immorality, hazardousness and injury. It preconceives the things in a negative and bleak way, and expects bad if not worst consequences of any action. When it is taken as a consistent and systematic pattern of thought to explain various phenomena of life and universe; it is called philosophical pessimism. Philosophical pessimism treats life in a very rigid manner where there is no leniency. It challenges the optimistic belief of thinkers and takes life as a continuous stream of grief, misery, pain, distress and suffering. The famous German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is the most relevant personality in this regard who earned fame for his unflinching philosophical pessimism. This paper intends to elaborate pessimism as a philosophy which interprets life and world not in a negative way as such, but the way as it is. According to pessimism the world is inherently bad wherein sorrow dominates happiness; rather so-called happiness itself is the result of pain and misery of the others. Various forms of pessimism are also discussed in detail and are analyzed in the contemporary scenario as well.