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Wilddog73 t1_j2uj1ga wrote

Reply to comment by alchemist1248 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

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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