Is Pessimism a Psychologism?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47456/sofia.v15i2.53319Keywords:
pessimism, philosophical pessimism, psychologism, SchopenhauerAbstract
The recurrent association between pessimism and the psychological dispositions of its proponents has significantly contributed to obscuring the philosophical status of the concept. This article investigates to what extent, and for what reasons, philosophical pessimism, particularly that of Schopenhauer, is resistant to the charge of psychologism. To this end, it examines two recurring forms of this accusation: the reduction of pessimism to the philosopher’s biography and its interpretation as an expression of historical and social contingencies. Drawing on Schopenhauer’s writings and contributions from contemporary epistemology, we argue that such accusations conflate the context of discovery with the context of justification. We therefore maintain that philosophical pessimism may rest on objective conceptual grounds without excluding the influence of subjective motivations, the two dimensions being complementary rather than mutually exclusive.
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