>From left to right: Al-Ma’arri (the bust), Leopardi, Mainländer, Bahnsen, Zapffe, Horstmann
>A word of warning. The extreme pessimistic views of the philosophers in question make other so-called pessimists, such as Nietzsche (who, though nihilistic, was actually the opposite of a pessimist) or Camus, appear like mere choirboys in comparison. This may also explain their relative obscurity for most people presumably do not read philosophy in order to be told that life is terrible and that we should abandon all hope; in fact, it is usually for the exact opposite of reasons. As such, this article is more or less the exact opposite of the usual “inspirational” drivel that you will find copied throughout most of the internet.
Really? What the fuck was all that shit about will to power?
Sebastian Price
>this sophomore bullshit >pessimistic lol
Kayden Diaz
Nice break from the usual stuff here. Appreciate you.
Cameron White
>The philosopher with one of the darkest views of existence that ever lived, Philipp Mainländer was born in Germany to well-off parents and even worked in banking for a period of time. >Although initially inspired by Schopenhauer’s philosophy, he would end up vastly surpassing the former’s pessimism. According to Mainländer: before the beginning of time there was God . . . and the only thing God wanted was to die. Since he was a being of infinite unity, however, the only way he could kill himself was to shatter his timeless being into a time-bound and material universe. >Thus, since it was God’s death wish that gave life to the world, everything in it possesses an intrinsic will-to-die and is therefore destined towards permanent oblivion. In other words, we are the rotting pieces of God’s remains. It may be interesting to note that this idea somewhat resembles the scientific concept of entropy, which is said to result in the eventual heat death of the universe. >Like Al-Maʿarri, Mainländer suggested that humanity should stop reproducing. Yet he went one step further still; once we have stopped, he thought, we should thereafter commit suicide — for, we would thus be following along with “God’s plan” and would therefore be redeemed.
>was actually the opposite of a pessimist Yea, Nietzsche was an optimist through and through.
Ian Walker
yes, i read the article >thus be following along with “God’s plan” and would therefore be redeemed. in what world is this shit pessimistic?
Jeremiah Scott
>in what world is this shit pessimistic
in the part you missed >we should thereafter commit suicide
Dylan White
Did he play sudoku?
Jason Carter
how is suicide pessimistic if its a good thing to do? >life bad, death good if you believe in good then you aren't a pessimist
Benjamin Davis
>through and through
he's alluding to the Will to Power which essentially is an 'existential' affirmation of human life for its own sake and thus not essentially "pessimistic" or 'anti-life'
Liam Gonzalez
>death good did he say ^that? his philosophy was : >the only thing God wanted was to die
Matthew Sanchez
It's hard to beat Emil Cioran in the "life is not great" department. When you're a rampant insomniac, everything seems like shit.
Jason Garcia
>we should thereafter commit suicide >we should seems pretty cut and dry that he thought suicide was a good thing >>the only thing God wanted was to die this is retarded just take heroin and you'll fall asleep easily
Adrian Reed
bump
Luke Sanchez
Why are these philosophers so myopic? Most people seem to be alright
Dylan Phillips
>>the only thing God wanted was to die >this is retarded Personally i never read Mainländer but i don't see that notion as ridiculous as it seems: an infinite being has logically only one place to 'move to', finiteness aka death.
Gabriel Perez
Well said.
Evan Hughes
People no one cares about because they are obviously wrong…. It really philosophically interesting or good…
Isaac Long
Can instilling your life with a subjective truth be a reasonable bandaid?
Justin Flores
why would an infinite being move anywhere? how could an infinite being become finite? why would an infinite being operate on our understanding of logic?
most of these philosophers aren't that deep and never really apply their own skepticism to their own beliefs because then they'd be out of a job theres alot more scientists today that hold far more pessimistic beliefs than these guys
Ayden Green
they just needed to chill out a bit and stop over thinking things.
Owen Cooper
>why would an infinite being move anywhere? It depends on what 'infinite' means: from the pov of a toddler he is infinite as he's unaware of limitations (has to experience them).
>how could an infinite being become finite? By the same way we move from potential to limitations
>why would an infinite being operate on our understanding of logic? We can only process what we're able to perceive. Of course one can assume that everything is meaningless from that premise alone but that doesn't invalidate the opposite as to search meaning thought our limited understanding.
