In today’s society, being happy and having an optimistic attitude are social expectations that weigh heavily on how we live and the choices we make. Some psychologists have pointed out how happiness ...

When George W. Bush, who was a cheerleader in prep school, can say, "These aren't joyous times," who are you to hold out against gloom? Pessimism's hour is now it seems. According to Nietszche, ...

JOSHUA FOA DIENSTAG is a political science professor at UCLA. His latest book is "Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit." In his second inaugural address, President Bush proclaimed “complete confidence ...

Pessimism is back. That will not surprise anyone who has been keeping track of the nation’s pulse over the past several months — or perhaps the last several years. Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech, ...

Nearly a century ago Max Beerbohm, in his essay “Kolniyatsch,” noticed “a seemingly inexhaustible supply of anguished souls from the Continent–infantile, wide-eyed Slavs, Titan Teutons, greatly ...

Join the next History of Philosophy Research Seminar on December 5 with Panu-Matti Pöykkö (UH) and Sami Pihlström (UH). *NB! Note the time change to 3 pm! The seminar is open to all interested parties ...

Pessimism as a formal philosophical position goes further than nihilism by arguing not just that life lacks meaning but that ...

MePhiS asks: How can meliorist philosophy make the world better by transforming our engagement with suffering, and how can our individual and social lives be ameliorated through meliorism? Suffering ...