Pessimism : philosophy, ethic, spirit

Joshua Foa Dienstag

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 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.

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[目次]

  • PREFACE ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv ABBREVIATIONS xvii PART I CHAPTER ONE: The Anatomy of Pessimism 3 PART II CHAPTER TWO: "A Philosophy That Is Grievous but True": Cultural Pessimism in Rousseau and Leopardi 49 CHAPTER THREE: "The Evils of the World Honestly Admitted": Metaphysical Pessimism in Schopenhauer and Freud 84 CHAPTER FOUR "Consciousness Is a Disease": Existential Pessimism in Camus, Unamuno, and Cioran 118 PART III CHAPTER FIVE: Nietzsche's Dionysian Pessimism 161 CHAPTER SIX: Cervantes as Educator: Don Quixote and the Practice of Pessimism 201 CHAPTER SEVEN: Aphorisms and Pessimisms 226 CHAPTER EIGHT: Pessimism and Freedom (The Pessimist Speaks) 244 AFTERWORD 265 BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 INDEX 283

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この本の情報

書名 Pessimism : philosophy, ethic, spirit
著作者等 Dienstag, Joshua Foa
出版元 Princeton University Press
刊行年月 c2006
ページ数 xix, 293 p.
大きさ 25 cm
ISBN 9780691141121
9780691125527
NCID BA88866025
※クリックでCiNii Booksを表示
言語 英語
出版国 アメリカ合衆国
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