Yes, and many of the people I have met who claim to be pessimists are just dignifying hopelessness with a more classy term. I think hopelessness is often a faith based position - in as much as there are folk who believe that human destiny is one of inevitable doom, as opposed to the more obvious point that we are all destined to die.pessimistic thoughts can give rise to a sense of hopelessness. — Jack Cummins
Let's assume we begin from a neutral standpoint. What advantage is there in being pessimistic versus optimistic? Pessimism is inherently restrictive, optimism is inherently open-ended. Pessimism assumes that something bad is going to happen and can't be avoided. Optimism assumes that something good could happen. — Pantagruel
Pessimism, yes – Assume the worst, plan and proceed accordingly; and whether or not the worst happens, roll with those anticipated punches when they fall and keep moving forward, or as Winston Churchill purportedly quipped, "When you're going through hell keep going." The pessimistic stance, which Does Not Entail 'miserabilism' 'cynicism' or 'futilism', cultivates courage – sing the blues and dance! – at the expense of hope (to wit: “There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe ... but not for us.” ~Franz Kafka); only optimism repeatedly disappointed, or under duress & traumatized, loses hope and 'falls' into despair. — 180 Proof
This answer assumes that neither optimism or pessimism is the proper starting point, but that neutrality is. You then use the neutral perspective to determine that optimism is better than pessimism, but you fail to explain why neutrality is best. — Hanover
I would imagine that it is not that there is a fundamental difference in the nature of the commonplace understanding of pessimism, but more about the depth of the idea. If anything, the history of pessimism and optimism is probably one which weaves its way through the whole of philosophy and other systems of thoughts. It also is behind the scenes of culture and politics. The most extreme version is probably nihilism. One form of it which is probably not the most obvious is in death metal music. You would probably be surprised to know that was the version of it that made me wonder about it.
My own understanding of it takes it as a position of viewing the future with a sense of doom and futility, and an overriding sense that there is no way of finding positive solutions. — Jack Cummins
So with that being said, one can be a "happy-go-lucky" Schopenhaurian philosophical pessimist. — schopenhauer1
Buddhism is pretty much the same thing. The world is inherently suffering — schopenhauer1
Only one way to find out. :wink:I wonder if the way of embracing the absurd is one way of finding a pathway of acceptance of futility without becoming broken by it. — Jack Cummins
I don’t think so. Would be very interested in meeting one but the “thematic discrepancy” would be too much I think. I find that generally, one’s attitude towards life in general is a huge factor in their philosophy. You can’t be optimistic for long while thinking that life is inherently suffering. — khaled
Is not Buddhist doctrine but this isn’t the thread for it. — khaled
This answer assumes that neither optimism or pessimism is the proper starting point — Hanover
It may be possible to think of suffering on a philosophical level when one is enjoying the comforts of daily existence. — Jack Cummins
What I wonder is what happens to the person who adopts the philosophy when he or she comes face to face with suffering on a personal level? — Jack Cummins
Old Schop is an arch-pessimist. — 180 Proof
E.M. Cioran, like Samuel Beckett, is much more of an absurdist. Nietzsche & Kafka too. — 180 Proof
I think a bit puzzled why you think that monks are pessimists, and not sure why asceticism comes into the picture necessarily. — Jack Cummins
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