Pessimism was brought up in another thread and it seems to me it’s worth it’s own. So here’s my intro. Since I’m not much of philosopher, I’ll let the pro’s start. See if anyone want to toss in any thoughts or corrections.
Academy Of Ideas_com/2014/09/pessimism-of-strength/FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, PHILOSOPHY, VIDEOSPessimism of Strength
Academy of Ideas | September 22, 2014
According to popular thought, pessimism is an outlook which is necessarily associated with feelings of depression, despair, and hopelessness. However, as is often the case with popular thought, this idea is false. …“The idea that a pessimistic philosophy is necessarily one of discouragement is a puerile[childish] idea, but one that needs too long a refutation.” (Albert Camus)
In this video we will briefly survey the ideas of some of the famous pessimists of the last few hundred years, and finish by defending a form of pessimism coined a “pessimism of strength” by the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. …
… defined (pessimism), for the purpose of this video we will categorize the pessimist as holding one central conviction:
that being, that although human beings have been highly successful from an evolutionary standpoint – able to adapt to and survive in a staggering variety of environments – when it comes to the attainment of a life not dominated by suffering and dissatisfaction, human beings are failures.
Human existence is so ripe with suffering and misery, they maintained, because of the burden which our uniquely human awareness of time places upon us.
The 20th century Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran also pinpointed “the demonic character of time” to be a fundamental problem for human beings.
3:00
Nietzsche was especially sensitive to the burden which our awareness of the past places upon our being. …
As he in Thus Spoke Zarathustra: “the past is such a heavy weight on us precisely because it forever remains out of our reach, immoveable and unchangeable.”
“The future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable that we should never be so.” (Blaise Pascal)
5:00
The second problem the pessimists saw with relying too heavily on the future stems from (the fundamental chaotic element within our otherwise ordered world.) … which can at any moment erupt into our life and either destroy or drastically alter all our plans, dreams, and expectations.
Finally, if the burden which our awareness of the past and future places upon our shoulders were not heavy enough, our awareness of time also grants us knowledge of our ever impending death.
7:30
Referring to the mode of life in which one lives for the present moment alone, Schopenhauer wrote:
“But you could just as well call this mode of life the greatest folly: for that which in a moment ceases to exist, which vanishes as completely as a dream, cannot be worth any serious effort.” (Schopenhauer)
“The perishability of all things existing in time”, as Schopenhauer put it, stimulates in one who lives for the present moment a haunting recognition of the transitoriness and fragility of all things, and a feeling of continual loss as the present moment continually vanishes forever into the past.
{Cc: This is where an overarching visceral recognition of and appreciation for Deep Time and Earth’s past Evolution comes in handy. Emotionally and spiritually handy.
We understand that her future recovery and rehabilitation from humanity’s grievous destruction is inevitable. She has centuries, and millennia and eons to work with.
We had our one miraculous moment in Earth’s pageant of Evolution, and we decided to make the biggest flash possible, thus guaranteeing the fastest possible self-destruction.
Me, I would have really loved to know my kids and grandkids might enjoy some of what I’ve experienced of our biosphere, as a young growing person. But it won’t be there, much is already gone and what’s left won’t be there much longer.
Still we know life on Earth will continue. Sort of staggering that this is what it’s come down to but iIm a pragmatic person, much as I wish the world were difference, I see what’s unfolding all around me, we must make due with what there is. Even when the really is truly terrifying.
Like a choking spell, when your entire awareness zooms right in on that next gasp of air and nothing else. So too sometimes one can only zoom down to the present moment, hunker down and remember it’s the journey, not the destination, and in the end there will be peace and a deep long sleep.}
9:00Xian, this one’s for you,
“It is really the greatest absurdity to try to turn this scene of woe and lamentation into a pleasure-resort. . . . Whoever takes a gloomy view regards this world as a kind of hell and is accordingly concerned only with procuring for himself a small fireproof room; such a man is much less mistaken” (Schopenhauer)
9:45
In fact, Nietzsche wondered why it was assumed the pessimist necessarily had to give into feelings of depression and despair at all:
“Is pessimism necessarily a sign of decline, decay, degeneration, weary and weak instincts?…Is there a pessimism of strength?” (Nietzsche)
10:40
Those who adhere to a pessimism of weakness, he maintained, are really at bottom weak and impotent individuals, who cower from challenge, and thus utilize a pessimistic outlook to justify their inaction and refusal to engage in the sort of struggles that are necessary to face up to the burdens of life. …
Interestingly, Nietzsche thought that optimism too could be a sign of an underlying weakness, as the optimist is one who out of fear refuses to acknowledge or recognize the very real dark and terrifying aspects of existence. This realization led Nietzsche to call optimism “morally speaking, a sort of cowardice”.
It’s has some excellent closing paragraphs, but I want to entice you to check out the complete piece - you can read and listen to it. https://academyofideas.com/2014/09/pessimism-of-strength/ or you can listen to the entire video
