Changes

==Origin==

==Origin==

French pessimisme, from [[Latin]] pessimus worst  

French pessimisme, from [[Latin]] pessimus worst  

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1815]

*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 1815]

==Definitions==

==Definitions==

*1: an inclination to emphasize [[adverse]] aspects, conditions, and [[possibilities]] or to expect the worst possible outcome

*1: an inclination to emphasize [[adverse]] aspects, conditions, and [[possibilities]] or to expect the worst possible outcome

Philosophical pessimism is the similar but not [[identical]] [[idea]] that life has a [[negative]] [[value]], or that this world is as bad as it could possibly be. It has also been noted by many philosophers that pessimism is not a disposition as the term commonly connotes. Instead, it is a cogent [[philosophy]] that directly [[challenges]] the notion of [[progress]] and what may be considered the [[faith]]-based claims of [[optimism]].

Philosophical pessimism is the similar but not [[identical]] [[idea]] that life has a [[negative]] [[value]], or that this world is as bad as it could possibly be. It has also been noted by many philosophers that pessimism is not a disposition as the term commonly connotes. Instead, it is a cogent [[philosophy]] that directly [[challenges]] the notion of [[progress]] and what may be considered the [[faith]]-based claims of [[optimism]].

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer]'s pessimism comes from his elevating of [[Free will|Will]] above [[reason]] as the mainspring of [[human]] [[thought]] and [[behavior]]. Schopenhauer pointed to motivators such as [[hunger]], [[sexuality]], the need to [[care]] for [[children]], and the need for [[shelter]] and [[personal]] [[security]] as the real sources of [[human]] [[motivation]]. Reason, compared to these factors, is mere window-dressing for human thoughts; it is the clothes our [[naked]] hungers put on when they go out in [[public]]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer Schopenhauer] sees [[reason]] as weak and insignificant compared to Will; in one [[metaphor]], Schopenhauer [[compare]]s the human [[intellect]] to a lame man who can see, but who rides on the shoulder of the blind giant of Will.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer]'s pessimism comes from his elevating of [[Free will|Will]] above [[reason]] as the mainspring of [[human]] [[thought]] and [[behavior]]. Schopenhauer pointed to motivators such as [[hunger]], [[sexuality]], the need to [[care]] for [[children]], and the need for [[shelter]] and [[personal]] [[security]] as the real sources of [[human]] [[motivation]]. Reason, compared to these factors, is mere window-dressing for human thoughts; it is the clothes our [[naked]] hungers put on when they go out in [[public]]. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer Schopenhauer] sees [[reason]] as weak and insignificant compared to Will; in one [[metaphor]], Schopenhauer [[compare]]s the human [[intellect]] to a lame man who can see, but who rides on the shoulder of the blind giant of Will.

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]]. The prognosis of either pointlessly continuing the [[cycle]] of life or facing extinction is one major leg of Schopenhauer's pessimism.

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]]. The prognosis of either pointlessly continuing the [[cycle]] of life or facing extinction is one major leg of Schopenhauer's pessimism.

Schopenhauer moreover considers the [[desires]] of the will to entail [[suffering]]: because these selfish [[desires]] create constant [[conflict]] in the world. The [[business]] of [[biological]] life is a [[war]] of all against all. Reason only compounds our [[suffering]] by allowing us to [[realize]] that [[biology]]'s [[agenda]] is not something we would have [[chosen]] had we been given a [[choice]], but it is [[ultimately]] helpless to prevent us from serving it or to [[free]] us from the sting of its goad.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism]

Schopenhauer moreover considers the [[desires]] of the will to entail [[suffering]]: because these selfish [[desires]] create constant [[conflict]] in the world. The [[business]] of [[biological]] life is a [[war]] of all against all. Reason only compounds our [[suffering]] by allowing us to [[realize]] that [[biology]]'s [[agenda]] is not something we would have [[chosen]] had we been given a [[choice]], but it is [[ultimately]] helpless to prevent us from serving it or to [[free]] us from the sting of its goad.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism]

==See also==

==See also==

*'''''[[Optimism]]'''''

*'''''[[Optimism]]'''''

[[Category: Psychology]]

[[Category: Psychology]]