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alchemist1248 t1_j2ug2b5 wrote

Reply to comment by Wilddog73 in Look on the dark side | We must keep the flame of pessimism burning: it is a virtue for our deeply troubled times, when crude optimism is a vice by ADefiniteDescription

Pessimism acknowledges, as the piece said, that sometimes it is OK not to be OK. And that we don't gave to pretend that we are or will be in order for our worldview to make sense

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Wilddog73 t1_j2uj1ga wrote

Hmm. But the piece wasn't encouraging regular old pessimism, but "hopeful pessimism", no?

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alchemist1248 t1_j2ujlt8 wrote

I would argue that any pessimism that doesn't fall into nihilism must be inherently hopeful

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Wilddog73 t1_j2um3ur wrote

That certainly doesn't fit my caricature of it. I guess we really will have to consider the difference between pessimism and skepticism/criticism more closely!

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