Bibliography of philosophical pessimism
This is bibliography of philosophical pessimism — a philosophical tradition which argues that life is not worth living and that non-existence is preferable to existence.
Primary literature
Books
- Becker, Ernest (2007). The Denial of Death. Free Press. ISBN 978-1-4165-9034-7.
- Benatar, David (2006). Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199296422.
- Benatar, David (2017). The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-063381-3.
- Brassier, Ray (2007). Nihil Unbound: Enlightenment and Extinction. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230522046.
- Cabrera, Julio (2019). Discomfort and Moral Impediment: The Human Situation, Radical Bioethics and Procreation. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-1803-2. OCLC 1078636651.
- Camus, Albert (2018) [1942]. The Myth of Sisyphus. Vintage. ISBN 978-0525564454.
- Cioran, Emil (1996) [1934]. On the Heights of Despair. Translated by Zarifopol-Johnston, Ilinca. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226106717.
- Cioran, Emil (2013) [1973]. The Trouble with Being Born. Translated by Howard, Richard. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1611457407.
- Cioran, Emil (2012) [1949]. A Short History of Decay [Précis de decomposition]. Translated by Howard, Richard. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61145-736-0.
- Cooper, David E. (2024). Pessimism, Quietism and Nature as Refuge. Newcastle upon Tyne: Agenda. ISBN 978-1788217705.
- Gray, John (2002). Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals. London: Granta Books. ISBN 978-0374270933.
- Dalton, Drew M. (2023). The Matter of Evil: From Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0810146402.
- Leopardi, Giacomo (1882) [1827]. Essays and Dialogues [Operette Morali]. Translated by Edwardes, Charles. London: Trübner & co., Lundgate Hill.
- Ligotti, Thomas (2011). The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror. New York: Hippocampus Press. ISBN 978-0-9844802-7-2. OCLC 805656473.
- Mainländer, Philipp (2024) [1876]. Philosophy of Redemption [Die Philosophie der Erlösung]. Brisbane: Irukandji Press. ISBN 978-0-6454980-7-3.
- Michelstaedter, Carlo (2004). Valentino, Russell Scott; Blum, Cinzia Sartini; Depew, David J. (eds.). Persuasion and Rhetoric. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300104349.
- Schopenhauer, Arthur (2010) [1818]. Welchman, Alistair; Janaway, -first=Christopher; Norman, Norman (eds.). The World as Will and Representation. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511780943. ISBN 978-0-521-87184-6.
- Schopenhauer, Arthur (2018) [1844]. Welchman, Alistair; Janaway, Christopher; Norman, Judith (eds.). The World as Will and Representation. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9780511843112. ISBN 978-1316616420.
- Schopenhauer, Arthur (2016) [1851]. Roehr, Sabine; Janaway, Christopher (eds.). Parerga and Paralipomena: Short Philosophical Essays. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87138-9.
- Schopenhauer, Arthur (2017) [1851]. Adrian, Del Caro; Janaway, Christopher (eds.). Parerga and Paralipomena: Short Philosophical Essays. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1108436526.
- von Hartmann, Eduard (1884) [1869]. Philosophy of the Unconscious: Speculative Results According to the Inductive Method of Physical Science. Translated by Coupland, William Chatterton. London: Trübner & co., Lundgate Hill.
- Thacker, Eugene (2018). Infinite Resignation. Minneapolis: Repeater. ISBN 978-1912248193.
- Unamuno, Miguel de. The Tragic Sense of Life. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
- Zapffe, Peter Wessel (2024) [1941]. On the Tragic. Translated by Showler, Ryan L. New York: Peter Lang. doi:10.3726/b20965. ISBN 978-1-636-67488-9. LCCN 2023043423.
Book chapters
- Metzinger, Thomas (2017). "Suffering" (PDF). In Almqvist, Kurt; Haag, Anders (eds.). The Return of Consciousness. Stockholm: Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. pp. 237–262. ISBN 978-91-89672-90-1.
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Essays
- Tønnessen, Herman (1966). "Happiness is for the Pigs". Journal of Existentialism. No. VII. pp. 181–214.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Zapffe, Peter Wessel (2004) [1933]. "The Last Messiah". Philosophy Now. No. 45. Translated by Tangenes, Gisle R. pp. 35–39. ISSN 0961-5970. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
Academic papers
- Contestabile, Bruno (2016). "The Denial of the World from an Impartial View". Contemporary Buddhism. 17 (1): 49–61. doi:10.1080/14639947.2015.1104003. S2CID 148168698. Archived from the original on 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-18. Penultimate draft Archived 2023-09-02 at the Wayback Machine
- Hathaway, Amalie J. (September 1881 – July 1882). "Schopenhauer". Education. 2: 234–252.
- Kahane, Guy (2023). "Was evolution worth it?". Philosophical Studies. 180 (1): 249–271. doi:10.1007/s11098-022-01893-4. Archived from the original on 2023-03-22.
- Plumacher, O. (1879). "Pessimism". Mind. 4 (13): 68–89. doi:10.1093/mind/os-4.13.68. ISSN 0026-4423.
- Prescott, Paul (2012). "What Pessimism Is". Journal of Philosophical Research. 37: 337–356. doi:10.5840/jpr20123716.
Secondary literature
Books
- Beiser, Frederick C. (2016). Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860–1900. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-876871-5. OCLC 929590292. Archived from the original on 2024-09-29. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
- Caro, E. (1878). Le pessimisme au XIXe siècle: Leopardi—Schopenhauer—Hartmann [Pessimism in the 19th Century: Leopardi—Schopenhauer—Hartmann] (in French). Paris: Hachette et cie.
- Coates, Ken (2016). Anti-Natalism: Rejectionist Philosophy from Buddhism to Benatar. First Edition Design Publishing. ISBN 978-1506-902-40-1.
- Dienstag, Joshua Foa (2009). Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14112-1.
- Feltham, Colin (2016). Depressive Realism: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-58482-7.
- Hassan, Patrick (2023). Nietzsche's Struggle against Pessimism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1009380270.
- Saltus, Edgar (1885). The Philosophy of Disenchantment. New York: Belford. Archived from the original on 2023-08-05. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
- Segev, Mor (2022). The Value of the World and of Oneself: Philosophical Optimism and Pessimism from Aristotle to Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-197-63407-3.
- Sully, James (1877). Pessimism: A History and a Criticism. London: Henry S. King & Co.
- Tsanoff, Radoslav A. (1931). The Nature of Evil. New York: The MacMillan Company.
- van der Lugt, Mara (2021). Dark Matters: Pessimism and the Problem of Suffering. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-20662-2.
- Mark, Schmitt (2023). Spectres of Pessimism: A Cultural Logic of the Worst. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3031253515.
- Pedder, Vladislav (2026). Processual Pessimism: On the Nature of Cosmic Suffering and Human Nothingness. Moscow: Ridero. ISBN 978-5-0069-0818-5. Retrieved 2026-02-24.
Book chapters
- Beiser, Frederick C. (2024-03-21), Gjesdal, Kristin; Nassar, Dalia (eds.), "Two Female Pessimists", The Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Women Philosophers in the German Tradition (1 ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 471–492, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190066239.013.30, ISBN 978-0-19-006623-9, retrieved 2024-10-18
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - Cholbi, Michael (2021). "Schopenhauer, Suicide, and Contemporary Pessimism". In Hassan, Patrick (ed.). Schopenhauer's Moral Philosophy. New York: Routledge. pp. 141–159. doi:10.4324/9781003090953-8. ISBN 978-0367547721.
- Janaway, Christopher (1999). "Schopenhauer's Pessimism". In Janaway, Christopher (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 318–343. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521621062.011. ISBN 978-0521621069.
- Simmons, Byron (2024). "Schopenhauer's Pessimism". In Bather Woods, David; Stoll, Timothy (eds.). The Schopenhauerian Mind. Oxon: Routledge. pp. 282–296. ISBN 9780367501532.
Academic papers
- Bather Woods, David (2025). "Schopenhauer's worst of all possible worlds". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. Routledge: 1–16. doi:10.1080/09608788.2025.2543360. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-08-30.
- Fox, Joshua Isaac (2022). "Does Schopenhauer Accept Any Positive Pleasures?". European Journal of Philosophy. 31 (4): 902–913. doi:10.1111/ejop.12830.
- Hassan, Patrick (2021). "Individual vs. World in Schopenhauer's Pessimism". The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 59 (2): 122–152. doi:10.1111/sjp.12401. S2CID 234303325. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
- Hassan, Patrick (2021). "Striving as Suffering: Schopenhauer's A Priori Argument for Pessimism". Philosophia. 49 (4): 1487–1505. doi:10.1007/s11406-020-00316-0. S2CID 234157970. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
- Janaway, Christopher (2018). "Schopenhauer on the Aimlessness of the Will". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 26 (2): 331–347. doi:10.1080/09608788.2017.1393619. Archived from the original on 2023-11-05. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
- Janaway, Christopher (2022). "Worse than the best possible pessimism? Olga Plümacher's critique of Schopenhauer". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 30 (2): 211–230. doi:10.1080/09608788.2021.1881441. S2CID 233897050.
- Prescott, Paul (2012). "What Pessimism Is" (PDF). Journal of Philosophical Research. 37: 337–356. doi:10.5840/jpr20123716. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
- Simmons, Byron (2021). "A Thousand Pleasures Are Not Worth a Single Pain: The Compensation Argument for Schopenhauer's Pessimism". European Journal of Philosophy. 29 (1): 120–136. doi:10.1111/ejop.12561. S2CID 225685721. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
PhD theses
- Dahlkvist, Tobias (2007). Nietzsche and the Philosophy of Pessimism. A Study of Nietzsche’s Relation to the Pessimistic Tradition: Schopenhauer, Hartmann, Leopardi (PhD thesis). Uppsala Studies in History of Ideas. Vol. 35. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-6963-4. ISSN 1653-5197.
- Fox, Joshua Isaac (2021). Existential Pessimism and Aesthetic Experience: Mill, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche on Life's Value (PDF) (PhD thesis). Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago.
- Moya, Ignacio L. (2023). Human Extinction in the Pessimist Tradition (PhD thesis). The University of Western Ontario.
Books in other languages
There are also some works that have no English translations or which translated versions vary to a high degree with respect to the original.
- Bahnsen, Julius (1877). Das Tragische als Weltgesetz und der Humor als ästhetische Gestalt des Metaphysischen [The Tragical as World Law and Humor as Aesthetic Shape of the Metaphysical] (in German). Lauenberg: Verlag von F. Ferley.
- Cabrera, Julio (2018). Mal-estar e moralidade: situação humana, ética e procriação responsável [Discomfort and morality: the human situation, ethics and responsible procreation] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Brasília: Editora Universidade de Brasília. ISBN 978-85-230-1218-2.
- Cabrera, Julio (2020). La Forma Del Mundo: Ensayo sobre la muerte del ser. Elementos de Metafilosofía Primera [The Form Of The World: Essay on the death of being. Elements of the First Metaphilosophy] (in Spanish). Florianópolis: Ed. do Autor. ISBN 978-6500084023.
- Horstmann, Ulrich (1985). Das Untier: Konturen einer Philosophie der Menschenflucht (in German). Suhrkamp. ISBN 978-3518376720.
- Mainländer, Philipp (1996) [1876]. Die Philosophie Der Erlosung. Erster Band [Philosophy of Redemption. Volume 1] (in German). Olms, Georg Verlag AG. ISBN 978-3487095561.
- Mainländer, Philipp (1996) [1886]. Die Philosophie Der Erlosung. Zweiter Band [Philosophy of Redemption. Volume 2] (in German). Olms, Georg Verlag AG. ISBN 978-3487095578.
- Taubert, A. (1872). Philosophie gegen naturwissenschaftliche ueberhebung: Eine zurechtweisung des dr. med. Geo Stiebeling und seiner angeblichen widerlegung der Hartmann schen lehre vom unbewussten in der leiblichkeit [Philosophy Against the Overreach of Natural Sciences: A Rebuttal to Dr. Geo Stiebeling and His Alleged Refutation of Hartmann’s Doctrine of the Unconscious in Corporality] (in German). Berlin: Duncker.
- Taubert, A. (1873). Der pessimismus und seine gegner [Pessimism and Its Opponents] (in German). Berlin: Carl Duncker's verlag (C. Heymons).