RT Book
T1 The value of the world and of oneself: philosophical optimism and pessimism from Aristotle to modernity
T2 Oxford scholarship online
A1 Segev, Mor
LA English
PP New York, NY
PB Oxford University Press
YR 2022
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1805328034
AB "This book examines the longstanding debate between philosophical optimism and pessimism in the history of philosophy, focusing on Aristotle, Maimonides, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Camus. Philosophical optimists maintain that the world is optimally arranged and is accordingly valuable, and that the existence of human beings is preferable over their nonexistence. Philosophical pessimists, by contrast, hold that the world is in a woeful condition and ultimately valueless, and that human nonexistence would have been preferable over our existence. Schopenhauer criticizes the optimism he locates in the Hebrew Bible and in Spinoza for being unable to square the presumed perfection of the world and its parts, including human life, with the suffering and misfortunes observable in them, and for leading to egoism and thereby to cruelty. Nietzsche, in turn, criticizes Schopenhauer's overtly pessimistic view, inter alia, for furtively positing a perfect state for one to aspire to, thus being latently optimistic. Similarly, Camus charges Nietzsche, who announces his rejection of both optimism and pessimism, with deifying the world and oneself, thereby reverting to optimism. Interestingly, Aristotle countenances an optimistic theory, later adopted and developed by Maimonides, that is arguably capable of facing Schopenhauer's challenge. Aristotelian optimism accounts for the perfection of the world in terms of a hierarchy of value between its parts, with human beings ranked relatively low, and recommends an attitude congruent with that ranking"--
NO Also issued in print: 2022. - Includes bibliographical references and index. - Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on April 11, 2022)
CN B829
SN 9780197634103
SN 9780197634097
K1 Optimism : History
K1 Pessimism : History
K1 Optimism
K1 Pessimism
K1 Philosophy
DO 10.1093/oso/9780197634073.001.0001