Dark Matters: Pessimism and the Problem of Suffering

Description

An intellectual history of the philosophers who grappled with the problem of evil, and the case for why pessimism still holds moral value for us today In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, philosophers engaged in heated debates on the question of how God could have allowed evil and suffering in a creation that is supposedly good. Dark Matters traces how the competing philosophical traditions of optimism and pessimism arose from early modern debates about the problem of evil, and makes a compelling case for the rediscovery of pessimism as a source for compassion, consolation, and perhaps even hope. Bringing to life one of the most vibrant eras in the history of philosophy, Mara van der Lugt discusses legendary figures such as Leibniz, Hume, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, and Schopenhauer. She also introduces readers to less familiar names, such as Bayle, King, La Mettrie, and Maupertuis. Van der Lugt describes not only how the earliest optimists and pessimists were deeply concerned with finding an answer to the question of the value of existence that does justice to the reality of human suffering, but also how they were fundamentally divided over what such an answer should look like. A breathtaking work of intellectual history by one of today's leading scholars, Dark Matters reveals how the crucial moral aim of pessimism is to find a way of speaking about suffering that offers consolation and does justice to the fragility of life. Cover Contents Introduction. Philosophy in a Minor Chord The Problem of Evil Pessimism and Optimism Maps and Methods The Question A Note of Caution Chapter 1. The Complaint: Bayle and Malebranche on Physical Evil Categories Strategies Malebranche’s Monsters Bayle’s Balances A Theodicean Turn? Complaint and Consolation Chapter 2. The Optics of Optimism: Leibniz and King Respond to Bayle Definitions The Challenge of Pessimism Rising to the Challenge The Thought Experiment The Argument from Suicide The Misery of the Damned The Optics of Optimism Pessimism Chapter 3. Of Hope and Consolation: Voltaire and the Deists Pope and Prior Jenyns and Johnson Voltaire’s Volte-Face? The Philosopher’s Earthquake Candide, or Optimism The Complications of Hope Chapter 4. When Stoicism Meets Pessimism: La Mettrie and Maupertuis ‘But We Shall Be Anti-Stoics!’: La Mettrie Calculating Evils: Maupertuis Optimistic Pessimism? Pessimistic Optimism? La Mettrie Strikes Back Stoicism and Suicide Chapter 5. The Dispositional Problem of Evil: David Hume A Fragment on Evil Dialogues concerning Natural Religion ‘The Sceptic’ The Consolations of Philosophy ‘Of Suicide’ Humean Pessimism Chapter 6. The Art of Suffering: Jean-Jacques Rousseau Discourse on the Origin of Inequality The Letter to Voltaire Emile Rousseau versus the Pessimists Chapter 7. The Failure of Theodicy: Immanuel Kant ‘Heil uns, wir sind!’: The Optimistic Kant A Last Attempt at Theodicy? The Essay on Theodicy The Clear Eyes of Maria von Herbert Chapter 8. The Flute-Playing Pessimist: Arthur Schopenhauer The Case for Pessimism Round One: ‘The Dark Abodes of Misery’ Round Two: Theodicy Revisited Round Three: Parerga and Paralipomena The Reasons for Pessimism The Problems of Pessimism Chapter 9. Dark Matters: Pessimism as a Moral Source Why the Dark Matters Happiness and the New Suffering The Point of Pessimism Fragility Hopeful Pessimism Acknowledgements Bibliography Main Primary Sources Other Primary Sources Secondary and Modern Sources Index