Research Catalog

Title

Weltschmerz : pessimism in German philosophy, 1860-1900 / Frederick C. Beiser.

Author

Beiser, Frederick C., 1949-

Publication

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press 2016.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

ix, 301 pages; 24 cm

Summary

Weltschmerz' is a study of the pessimism that dominated German philosophy in the second half of the nineteenth century. Pessimism was essentially the theory that life is not worth living. This theory was introduced into German philosophy by Schopenhauer, whose philosophy became very fashionable in the 1860s. Frederick C. 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 Mainlander, Eduard von Hartmann and Julius Bahnsen) and its chief critics, especially Eugen Duhring and the neo-Kantians. The pessimism dispute of the second half of the century has been largely ignored in secondary literature and this book is a first attempt since the 1880s to re-examine it and to analyze the important philosophical issues raised by it. The dispute concerned the most fundamental philosophical issue of them all: whether life is worth living.

Subjects

• Philosophy, German > 19th century
• Pessimism > Germany > History > 19th century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Call Number

JFE 16-7074

ISBN

• 9780198768715
• 0198768710

LCCN

2015953857

OCLC

929590292

Author

Beiser, Frederick C., 1949- author.

Title

Weltschmerz : pessimism in German philosophy, 1860-1900 / Frederick C. Beiser.

Publisher

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press 2016.

Edition

First edition.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 16-7074