Eugene Thacker - Infinite Resignation: On Pessimism

INFINITE RESIGNATION

EUGENE THACKER

INFINITE RESIGNATION

EUGENE THACKER

A Sort of Preface. By definition, there can be no hope for a book like this its very existence is dubious. If all is for naught, then why bother writing it down? Caught in a vicious circle, ensnared in the logical absurdities of awkward self-awareness.

It seems there are one of two options: either speak to this situation, or remain silent. The writers failure is that they know they should choose the latter, but cannot help attempting the former. Writers (and readers when there are readers) console themselves by naming this failure: an apology, a confession, a testimony, a treatise, a history, a biography, a life. But the continual accumulation of that-which-cannot-be-putinto-words always points back to this one basic realization that, when it comes to human beings, silence is the most adequate form of expression.

There are, then, two paths. Ultimately writers dream of taking neither path, leaving all paths for the forest. But its just a dream.

ON PESSIMISM

~ * ~

A philosophy exists between the axiom and the sigh. Pessimism is the wavering, the hovering.

~ * ~

Whenever it occurs, however it occurs, pessimism has but one effect: it introduces humility into thought. It undermines the innumerable, self-aggrandizing postures that constitute the human being. Pessimism is the humility of the species that has named itself, thought furtively stumbling upon its own limitations on black wings of futility. (And is this helpful?)

~ * ~

Pessimism is the night-side of thought, a melodrama of the futility of the brain, a lyricism written in the graveyard of philosophy. No one ever needs pessimism, in the way that one needs optimism, for instance, to inspire one to great heights and pick oneself up, in the way one needs constructive criticism, advice and feedback, inspirational books or just a pat on the back (though I like to imagine the idea of pessimism as self-help). Pessimism is a philosophically untenable position. No self-respecting philosopher would ever describe themselves as a pessimist its more of an indictment than a philosophy. Yet, without exception, everyone has, at some point in their lives, had to confront pessimism, if not as a philosophy then as a grievance against ones self or against others, against ones life or ones circumstances, against the state of affairs or against the world in general.

The closest pessimism comes to philosophical argument is the droll and sardonic, Well never make it, or simply: Were doomed. Every effort doomed to failure, every project doomed to incompletion, every thought doomed to be unthought, every life doomed to be unlived.

~ * ~

When solutions produce problems, when thought flounders in the absence of order, unity, and purpose, when healthy skepticism turns into pathological sarcasm this is usually when pessimism enters the fray. The problem is that when pessimism enters philosophical discussion, it is almost never helpful. In fact, it makes things worse. However, in its unending miserere, sometimes something interesting happens: it raises the stakes of the discussion, scaling things up beyond the self-interested level of human beings living in a human world, beyond our wants and desires, beyond our individual or collective self-importance. Besides, we didnt really think we could figure it out, did we? A strange philosophy, then the most adequate, the least helpful.

~ * ~

Is there any philosophy that is not, in some way, built up upon disenchantment and that does not, ultimately, crumble beneath its weight? Disenchantment as chanting, as a chant, a mantra, a solitary, monophonic voice rendered insignificant by the intimate immensity surrounding it.

~ * ~

No one has time for pessimism. After all, there are only so many hours in the day. Whatever our temperament, happy or sad, engaged or disengaged, we know pessimism when we hear it. The pessimist is usually understood to be the complainer, forever pointing out what is wrong with the world without ever offering a solution. But more often than not pessimists are the most subdued of philosophers, submerging their sighs within the lethargy of discontent. What little sound they make is of interest to no one Ive heard it all before, tell me something I dont know, sound and fury, signifying nothing.

~ * ~

Things should be good, I tell myself, but theyre, well, not-so-good. Nothing seems to make sense and it should (shouldnt it?). Granted, things werent exactly perfect before, but now theyre definitely worse (or so it seems). And this on top of the simplest of things: having to live a life.

~ * ~

In presenting problems without solutions, in posing questions without answers, in retreating to the hermetic, cavernous abode of complaint, pessimism is guilty of that most inexcusable of Occidental crimes the crime of not pretending its all for a reason. Pessimism fails to live up to the most basic tenet of philosophy the as if. Think as if it will be helpful, act as if it will make a difference, speak as if there is something to say, live as if you are not, in fact, being lived by some murmuring non-entity both shadowy and muddied.

~ * ~

The luminous point at which logic becomes contemplation. Lost in thought. Adrift in deep space. Dreamless sleep.

~ * ~

Pessimism has a dubious status, both in everyday life and in the history of philosophy. Usually, pessimism is thought of as opposed to optimism a negative to a positive, the worst versus the best, the glass halfempty or the glass half-full. In this understanding, the scales of optimism and pessimism are forever tipping back and forth, according to our attitudes, our circumstances, our fortunes and misfortunes. Look in any Dictionary of Philosophy and you will likely find a definition of pessimism, and, in addition to mentioning the nineteenth-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, it will probably provide one of three definitions: The view that this is the worst of all possible worlds, or The view that life is not worth living, or even The view that non-existence is preferable to existence (usually with the addendum See also: optimism). But for me, the definition that best captures pessimism is given by the joke I see the glass half full, but of poison.

~ * ~

Pessimism tries very hard to present itself in the low, sustained tones of a Requiem Mass, or the tectonic rumbling of a Tibetan chant. But more frequently it lets loose dissonant notes at once plaintive and pathetic. Often, its voice cracks, its weighty words abruptly reduced to mere shards of guttural sound.

~ * ~

If we know pessimism when we hear it, this is because weve heard it all before and we didnt need to hear it in the first place. Life is hard enough. What you need is a change of attitude, a new outlook, a shift in perspective a cup of coffee.

If we have no tolerance for pessimism, this is because it sees everything as brimming with negative possibility, the collision of a bad mood with an impassive world. If pessimism is so often dismissed, this is because it is often impossible to separate a bad mood from a philosophical proposition (and do not all philosophies stem from a bad mood?).

~ * ~

A Very Very Short History of Philosophy. Ive always felt that there are basically two kinds of philosophies: those that begin in wonder and those that begin in despair. The philosophies of wonder marvel at the world; they are drawn to its shimmering presence, and are driven by curiosity, which euphorically leans towards knowledge. By contrast, the philosophies of despair recoil from the world; they are at once perplexed by and weary of its ephemeral and fragile contours. They are driven by a doubt that gives way to a still greater doubt, until almost nothing is left. The philosophies of wonder embrace the world; the philosophies of despair are suspicious of it.