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Topic: Philosophical pessimism

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	Pessimism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Pessimism, generally, describes a belief that things are bad, and tend to become worse; or that looks to the eventual triumph of evil over good; it contrasts with optimism, the contrary belief in the goodness and betterment of things generally.
		Philosophical pessimism describes a tendency to believe that the life has a negative value, or that this world is as bad as it could possibly be.
		Likening human life to the life of other animals, he saw the reproductive cycle as indeed a cyclical process that continues pointlessly and indefinitely, unless the chain is broken by too limited resources to make continued life possible, in which case it is terminated by extinction.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Philosophical_pessimism (463 words)

	Easy Encyclopedia - Online Encyclopedia. Knowledge is Power
		Today, philosophical questions are usually explicitly distinguished from the questions of the special sciences, and characterized by the fact that (unlike those of the sciences) they the sort of questions which are foundational and abstract in nature, and which are not amenable to being answered by experimental means.
		Philosophy of biology: the philosophical study of some basic concepts of biology, including the notion of a species and whether biological concepts are reducible to nonbiological concepts.
		Philosophy of mind: the philosophical study of the nature of the mind, and its relation to the body and the rest of the world.
	www.easyencyclopedia.com /encyclopedia/p/ph/philosophy_1.html (3472 words)

	philosophy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		It's a matter of considerable philosophical debate whether "solving" a philosophical problem is like answering a question in the natural sciences: whether or not, for example, philosophical "solutions" are definitive, and whether they tell you something informative about the structure of reality, or just get you more clear on the logic of our language.
		Philosophical inquiry is often divided into several major "branches" based on the questions typically addressed by people working in different parts of the field.
		Philosophy of perception: the philosophical study of topics related to perception; the question what the "immediate objects" of perception are has been especially important.
	www.yourencyclopedia.net /Philosophy.html (3737 words)

	Philosophy - Wikipedia
		Philosophers divide the long history of Western philosophy into ancient philosophy, medieval philosophy, modern philosophy, and contemporary philosophy.
		John Dewey was an American philosopher and founder of the school of philosophy known as pragmatism.
		Philosophy of perception: the philosophical study of topics related to perception, especially the question what the "immediate objects" of perception are.
	nostalgia.wikipedia.org /wiki/Philosophy (1528 words)

	AllRefer.com - pessimism (Philosophy, Terms And Concepts) - Encyclopedia
		pessimism, philosophical opinion or doctrine that evil predominates over good; the opposite of optimism.
		Systematic forms of pessimism may be found in philosophy and religion.
		Numerous philosophers have been pessimistic, notably Arthur Schopenhauer in the 19th cent.
	reference.allrefer.com /encyclopedia/P/pessimis.html (156 words)

	Philosophy - FreeEncyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Those new to philosophy are usually invited particularly to pay attention to logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophy of science, ethics, and political philosophy as--arguably, of course--the "central disciplines" of philosophy.
		Axiology: the branch of philosophical enquiry that explores aesthetics and ethics; metaphysics and epistemology round out what many consider the three main branches from which all philosophical discourse stems.
		Traditionally philosophers have held that philosophers must use basically different methods from science, or only very specially refined versions of those methods: philosophy is done a priori, does not rely on experiment, and must be able to justify the methods science without depending on them It aslo depends on non-scientific methods, such as interpretation[?].
	openproxy.ath.cx /ph/Philosophy.html (2953 words)

	The History of Pessimism
		Pessimism opened for them a crack for this transcendence, or, at least, gave them the opportunity of struggling for transcendence that is ultra utopic, on the one hand, and constitutes the conceptual conditions for Lyrical Pessimism, on the other hand.
		He occupied himself for quite a long time with the philosophical pessimism and Philosophy in general as his main field of interest, work that was forgotten with the expulsion of the pessimistic tradition as a living memory that challenges the conventions of our present realm of self-evidence.
		Pessimism presents itself in von Hartman's Philosophy as a new religion, as a perfection of Christianity, and from that locus he demanded from Man the participation with God's suffering,(24) in contrast to the concept of pietas and the participation with the other's sufferings in Schopenhauer's Philosophy.
	construct.haifa.ac.il /~ilangz/history_of_pessimism.htm (15240 words)

	Pessimism -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		In particular, it most famously describes the (The rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics) philosophy of (German pessimist philosopher (1788-1860)) Arthur Schopenhauer.
		Schopenhauer's pessimism comes from his elevating of (A legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die) Will above (A rational motive for a belief or action) reason as the mainspring of human thought and behaviour.
		Schopenhauer moreover considers the desires of the will to entail (Feelings of mental or physical pain) suffering: because they are desires; because their objects are always limited resources; because other living things must be excluded from those resources.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/p/pe/pessimism.htm (372 words)

	Wisam Mansour (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		In literature, pessimism is primarily the view that the universe is intrinsically either evil or indifferent, and that life is consequently futile.
		The strict definition, in both philosophical and literary usage, is absolute, constant, and cosmic: the universe is seen as being at the mercy of a malignant - or at least uncaring- force (c/f.
		Thus, Ayckbourn 's pessimism is founded on the doctrine that reality is essentially evil, and it is not possible to transcend the difficulties of life.
	www.geocities.com /Broadway/Booth/2557/Publications/ayckbourn.html (1747 words)

	Philosophy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Philosophers frame problems in a logical manner then work towards a solution based on logical processes and reasoning, based on a critical reading and response to previous work in this area.
		In Plato's dialogues, Socrates often contrasts Philosophers (those who love wisdom) with Sophists, those Socrates characterised as dishonest for hiding their ignorance behind word play and flattery, and convincing others of what was baseless or untrue.
		Political philosophy: the study of basic topics concerning government, including the purpose of the state, political justice, political freedom, the nature of law, the justification of punishment, and paternalism.
	usapedia.com /p/philosophy-1.html (3102 words)

	Learn more about Philosophical pessimism in the online encyclopedia. (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Philosophical pessimism is a phrase frequently used to describe the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer.
		Reason makes us suffer all the more, in that reason makes us realize that biology's agenda is something we would not have chosen if we had a choice, but is helpless to prevent us from serving it or failing to feel the sting of its goads.
		The term has also been used to describe the position of the Norwegian philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe, although he clearly states in his philosophical treatise Om det tragiske that pessimism is a term which cannot describe his biosophy (partially inspired by Arthur Schopenhauer).
	www.onlineencyclopedia.org /p/ph/philosophical_pessimism.html (419 words)

	OPTIMISM FACTS AND INFORMATION (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Philosophers often link the concept of optimism with the name of Gottfried_Leibniz, who held that we live in the "best of all possible worlds," a theodicy which Voltaire famously mocked in his satirical novel ''Candide''.
		The philosophical pessimism of, for instance, Arthur_Schopenhauer, provides an opposite pole to philosophical optimism.
		Antonio_Gramsci famously called for "pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will": the one the spur to action, the other the resilience to believe that such action will result in meaningful change even in the face of adversity.
	www.amysflowershop.com /optimism (519 words)

	Philosophical Dictionary: Pascal-Phenomenon
		American philosopher who conceived of pragmatism as a method of inquiry designed to achieve clarity and (eventually) convergence of all opinion on an inter-subjective truth.
		Although the details of their theories of human nature differ widely, Descartes, Locke, Kant, and Strawson all accepted a functional description of the person that includes both mental and physical features: the attribution of responsibility to a moral agent requires both the ability to choose and an ability to act on that choice.
		Hence, a philosophical method restricted to careful analysis of the intellectual processes of which we are introspectively aware, without making any assumptions about their supposed causal connections to existent external objects.
	www.philosophypages.com /dy/p2.htm (1242 words)

	CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pessimism
		As a philosophical system, Pessimism may be characterized as one of the many attempts to account for the presence of evil in the world (see EVIL).
		Leibniz held that "metaphysical" evil is necessarily involved in the creation of finite existences, and that the possibility of sin and consequent suffering is inalienable from the existence of free and rational creatures.
		The view to be taken of the contention of Pessimism depends mainly on whether the question can be settled by an estimate — supposing that one can be formed — of the relative amount of pleasure and pain in average human life.
	www.newadvent.org /cathen/11740b.htm (1550 words)

	Arthur Schopenhauer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) is one of the most important 19th century philosophers, most famous for his work, The World as Will and Representation.
		He is known for having espoused a sort of philosophical pessimism that saw life as being essentially evil and futile, but saw hope in aesthetics, sympathy for others and ascetic living.
		But Kant's philosophy was formulated as a response to the radical philosophical skepticism of David Hume and his fellow British Empiricists, who claimed that as far as we could tell there was no outside reality beyond our mental representations of it.
	www.1-free-software.com /en/wikipedia/a/ar/arthur_schopenhauer.html (1575 words)

	Book review: Faith and World Economy
		What is needed is not the wholesale renunciation of the healthy principles found thus far in favour of some system not yet articulated, but rather the application of economic principles at present applied intermittently or within the borders of nations or economic alliances, for their own benefit, to the whole world.
		Such a philosophical outlook would appear to fit less than easily with aspects of the Baha'i Faith such as progressive revelation and the goal of 'an ever-advancing civilization', and it should be said that most Baha'is are, in my experience, fundamentally optimistic.
		I have pointed out its deeply pessimistic colour, the basis of that pessimism in a materialistic model of the universe, and the economic corollary - logically derived from the false premise of materialism - that in a universe of strict limits the wealth of one causes the poverty of another.
	bahai-library.com /reviews/robiati.html (3638 words)

	Max Horkheimer -- Philosophy Books and Online Resources
		It is a wide-ranging philosophical and psychological critique of the Western categories of reason and nature, from Homer to Nietzsche.
		We can find philosophical pessimism in the writings of the young Horkheimer and his letters (Horkheimer 1927) and optimistic attitudes in his later work (especially in his public speeches on education while serving as rector of Frankfurt University) (Horkheimer 1985a, 361-456).
		However, fundamental changes in his philosophical orientations and its educational implications evolved, as he himself readily acknowledged (Horkheimer 1985b, 336-353), with the advent of World War II and the Holocaust.
	www.erraticimpact.com /~20thcentury/html/horkheimer.htm (790 words)

	Xavier University Registrar
		PHIL312 PHILOSOPHICAL HERMENEUTICS (3.00) Hermeneutics, originally a term for the art of interpreting the bible, came to mean, first the method of philology and of the human sciences (history, literature, philosophy) and finally, with Heidegger and Gadamerm, the only understanding possible after metaphysics.
		PHIL320 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE (3.00) A study of philosophical problems arising out of the presuppositions, methods and results of the natural sciences, focusing particularly on the effectiveness of science as a means for obtaining knowledge.
		PHIL368 THOMAS AQUINAS (3.00) A study of Aquinas' principal philosophical texts, especially concerning the existence and nature of God, creation, the nature of the human being, and the purpose of human life.
	www.xu.edu /registrar/course/phil.html (1481 words)

	Wikinfo \| Philosophy
		A Philosopher studies such concepts as existence, goodness, knowledge, and beauty, and asks questions such as "What is goodness, in general?" and "Is knowledge even possible?".
		So, philosophy is a discipline that draws on knowledge that the average educated person has, and it does not make use of experimentation and careful observation, though it may interpret philosophical aspects of experiment and observation.
		Famous Western philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, René Descartes, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, G.W.F. Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Philosophy (1264 words)

	Arthur_Schopenhauer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		He is commonly known for having espoused a sort of philosophical pessimism that saw life as being essentially evil and futile, but rather, upon closer inspection, influenced by Eastern thought, he saw hope in aesthetics, sympathy for others and ascetic living.
		Philosophers have not traditionally been impressed by the tribulations of love.
		Although Schopenhauer may have appeared vain in his constant attacks on Hegel, they were not necessarily devoid of merit: some interpret Hegel as seeing the Prussian state of his day as perfect and the goal of all history up until then.
	www.startrekconvention.com /search.php?title=Arthur_Schopenhauer (2678 words)

	Tractarian Pedagogies: Sense and Nonsense
		Philosophically, this clearly reflected on Wittgenstein’s part a conviction that such concerns were a matter primarily of deeds, not of discourse; that if they meant anything, they depended on how one lived one’s life, as an ethical agent, as an appreciator or creator of art, and as a believing soul.
		This surprising bit of philosophical pessimism follows rather directly from his beliefs about what cannot be said, about what it means for someone to "get it," and about the nature of radical conceptual change.
		It suggests that the purpose of philosophical writing of a fundamental nature is not to convince or persuade, but to create a picture of things that others, given the right sorts of pre-intuitions, might apprehend.
	faculty.ed.uiuc.edu /burbules/syllabi/Materials/tlp.html (3297 words)

	Articles - Arthur Schopenhauer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		He is commonly known for having espoused a sort of philosophical pessimism that saw life as being essentially evil, futile, and full of suffering.
		While Schopenhauer's hostility to women may tell us more about his biography than about philosophy, his biological analysis of the difference between the sexes, and their separate roles in the struggle for survival and reproduction, anticipates some of the claims that were later ventured by sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists in the twentieth century.
		Schopenhauer was also one of the first philosophers since the days of Greek philosophy to address the subject of male homosexuality.
	lastring.com /articles/Arthur_Schopenhauer?... (2768 words)

	Biosophy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06)
		It was later used by other philosophers like Peter Wessel Zapffe (1899-1990), who used biology as the foundation of his philosophy.
		Zapffe's arguments have been understood in relation to philosophical pessimism and existentialism; he is also sometimes regarded as a nihilist.
		The Biosophy Program was intended to circumscribe and systemize biological studies in a philosophical framework to support teaching at courses on philosophy and courses on biology.
	www.worldhistory.com /wiki/B/Biosophy.htm (291 words)

	FilosofosXX
		He had a volatile temper but in spite of his philosophical pessimism he lead a pleasant life, ate well, had afairs, and was very witty.
		A philosophical trend apparently started by Kierkegaard which became influential in continental Europe in the second quarter of the 20th century.
		Existentialism is opposed to rationalist and empiricist doctrines that assume that the universe is a determined, ordered system intelligible to the contemplative oberver who can discover the natural laws that govern all beings and the role of reason as the power guiding human activity.
	faculty-staff.ou.edu /L/A-Robert.R.Lauer-1/FilosofosXX.html (2667 words)

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