Pessimism

Sobre el libro Pessimism de Joshua Foa Dienstag publicado por Princeton al 2006:

In Pessimism, he challenges the received wisdom about pessimism, arguing that there is an unrecognized yet coherent and vibrant pessimistic philosophical tradition. More than that, he argues that pessimistic thought may provide a critically needed alternative to the increasingly untenable progressivist ideas that have dominated thinking about politics throughout the modern period. Laying out powerful grounds for pessimism´s claim that progress is not an enduring feature of human history, Dienstag argues that political theory must begin from this predicament. He persuasively shows that pessimism has been--and can again be--an energizing and even liberating philosophy, an ethic of radical possibility and not just a criticism of faith. The goal--of both the pessimistic spirit and of this fascinating account of pessimism--is not to depress us, but to edify us about our condition and to fortify us for life in a disordered and disenchanted universe.
PART I CHAPTER ONE: The Anatomy of Pessimism PART II CHAPTER TWO: "A Philosophy That Is Grievous but True": Cultural Pessimism in Rousseau and Leopardi CHAPTER THREE: "The Evils of the World Honestly Admitted": Metaphysical Pessimism in Schopenhauer and Freud CHAPTER FOUR "Consciousness Is a Disease": Existential Pessimism in Camus, Unamuno, and Cioran PART III CHAPTER FIVE: Nietzsche´s Dionysian Pessimism CHAPTER SIX: Cervantes as Educator: Don Quixote and the Practice of Pessimism CHAPTER SEVEN: Aphorisms and Pessimisms CHAPTER EIGHT: Pessimism and Freedom (The Pessimist Speaks)