“Weltschmerz Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860-

Weltschmerz by Ferdrick C. Beiser, is a study of the pessimism that dominated German philosophy in the second half of the nineteenth century. According to the author, Pessimism, broadly defined, is the doctrine that life is not worth living. This view was introduced into German philosophy by Schopenhauer, whose philosophy became very fashionable in the 1860s. Beiser examines the intense and long controversy that arose from Schopenhauer's pessimism, which changed the agenda of philosophy in Germany away from the logic of the sciences and toward an examination of the value of life. He examines the major defenders of pessimism (Philipp Mainländer, Eduard von Hartmann and Julius Bahnsen) and its chief critic, especially Eugen Dühring. In this paper, I introduce the book’s general approach, aim and contents, mentioning its privileges as a history of philosophy of an almost forgotten controversy and some wishes about its shortcomings.