Sim - A Philosophy of Pessimism

T here are many reasons to despair at the state of the world today: climate change and global warming; widespread humanitarian disasters due to war, famine and political corruption; religious intolerance and the growing influence of fundamentalist belief; political terrorism; racism; discrimination against ethnic minorities; sexism; the list could go on and on. Reflect on such phenomena at any length and it can be very difficult indeed not to become deeply pessimistic about human existence. I am one of those who do reflect, a committed pessimist, if you like, and my aim is to convince you not only that it makes sense to adopt a pessimistic attitude towards life, the universe and everything, but that we should regard pessimism as a positive condition. All of us probably swing from pessimism to optimism and back again in the daily round, but there is a very good case to be put for gravitating towards the former position in your general outlook.

If the notion of a positive pessimism sounds paradoxical, a persuasive defence can be mounted for it. Once we appreciate that there is a seam of pessimism running through our history, and that there have always been good reasons for cultivating such an outlook, we will be in a better position to understand how we can now turn it to positive account.

Philosophers, theologians, authors, creative artists in general, even scientists, have collectively contributed to a discourse of pessimism, and they have found a ready audience for theirmessage across all cultures. They have insisted that we face up to the more desperate aspects of the human condition and there are quite a few of these to ponder. How that discourse of pessimism has developed and its multi-faceted nature and, more importantly, what we can learn from it is my subject. I intend to explore the arguments for pessimism as a justifiable basis for a lifestyle, and consider why assuming that the glass is always half-empty could be of more benefit to humanity than a blinkered optimism that everything will eventually turn out all right as long as we keep faith. Even the most casual glance at human history will suggest that, on the contrary, things all too often turn out wrong sometimes horribly wrong. It seems only sensible, therefore, to cultivate a mindset that is prepared for bad outcomes to continue to be a significant part of the human experience. We need to keep the dark side of human affairs at the forefront of our consciousness, to counter the optimists and their rosy outlook. Perhaps, after all, it is more rational to adopt an essentially pessimistic attitude towards our collective lot: to wake up to reality and be a pessimist.

The word pessimism itself is derived from the Latin pessimus, meaning worst, and came into usage in the late eighteenth century; optimism comes from optimus, the Latin for best. Most current dictionary definitions of pessimism emphasize that sense of seeing the worst aspects of situations as the most likely to occur, and the working definition for this particular project will be built from that point.

It is important to note that pessimism is to be differentiated not just from optimism but also from fatalism. Pessimism involves a striving against the odds, even when you believe these are overwhelmingly stacked against you and that the worst outcome almost inevitably looms (the almost being crucial). Fatalism is more in the nature of surrendering to events that we are powerless to change. The latter is an attitude widely attributed in Western culture, rightly or wrongly, toIslamic belief. Pessimism and optimism are not necessarily mutually exclusive positions, however: pessimists can be optimistic about some things, optimists pessimistic about others in their turn. All of us are capable of the kind of mood swings in response to changing circumstances that can generate feelings of either condition at any given point in our lives, even though we might feel that we are largely disposed towards one side rather than the other. Optimists can be knocked back by severe ill health, for example, and pessimists inwardly hope to be given a clean bill of health when they visit their doctor with suspicious symptoms. It is perfectly natural to have experience of both pessimism and optimism in your own life, and this is by no means designed to be an argument that it is best to remain firmly stuck in the former state for your every waking moment.

Yet even if there is a spectrum of possible responses in any individuals life that we oscillate between, what soon becomes apparent is that each outlook has certain recurrent features that seem to point predominantly in one direction rather than the other, and that these will eventually assert themselves in attitudes and behaviour. It rarely takes long to distinguish a pessimist from an optimist, and it is the general attitude each sustains, rather than particular instances that could be interpreted either way, that will be the focus of this book. The case to be put is that pessimism should become a dominant factor in your worldview because it is a trait worth developing.