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The value of the world and of oneself : philosophical optimism and pessimism from Aristotle to modernity / Mor Segev

Author
Segev, Mor
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022]
Copyright Date
©2022
Physical Description
1 online resource (xii, 259 pages) : illustrations (colour).
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Summary
Philosophical optimists maintain that the world is optimally arranged and is accordingly valuable, and that the existence of human beings is preferable to their nonexistence. Philosophical pessimists, by contrast, would prefer human nonexistence, considering the world to be in a woeful condition and ultimately valueless. This text examines the longstanding debate between philosophical optimism and pessimism in the history of philosophy, focusing on Aristotle, Maimonides, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Camus. Mor Segev examines how 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.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780197634103 (ebook)
Note
Also issued in print: 2022.
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 37759009