229 



paper will be fully attained if it should help one distracted 

 soul to cling more firmly to the belief in the infinite goodness 

 of the Maker of the world. 



2. We shall now proceed to inquire (I.) What is Pessimism ? 

 (II.) What is the philosophical standpoint of its modern cham- 

 pions, Schopenhauer and von Hartmann, and, consequently, 

 what authority may be claimed for their utterances ? and (III.) 

 What are some of the facts in the constitution of the world 

 which have given rise to this literature of despair ? As the 

 various kinds of evil pass in review before us, it will be most 

 convenient to state, at the same time, the reasonable answers 

 that may be made, at any rate, to some of the difficulties which 

 occur in this province of speculation. 



(I.) Definition of Pessimism. — 3. Pessimism, strictly speak- 

 ing-, is intended to be the exact antithesis to Optimism. Both 

 words are now used with a certain amount of latitude. An 

 Optimist ought to mean one who believes that the world (by 

 which is meant, in this connexion, the universe, the sum total 

 of created things) is the best of all possible worlds. It is now 

 extended to include any one who holds that the good, on the 

 whole, predominates over the evil. Similarly, a Pessimist 

 should mean one who believes the world to be the worst of 

 all j^ossible worlds, but is also used of one who considers that 

 the balance, on the whole, is on the side of evil. We need 

 not trouble ourselves about merely literary outbursts of spleen 

 or melancholy, but confine our attention to thinkers who bring 

 forward more or less weighty arguments. As Pessimism is a 

 reaction or protest against Optimism, it is as well to begin 

 with a definite account of the latter doctrine. Optimism may 

 be said to have been, until lately, the prevailing creed among 

 philosophers of very different schools. Thinkers, for instance, 

 so remote from each other as Aristotle, Augustine, and Spinoza, 

 can all be classed as Optimists ; but the first formal treatise on 

 the subject is due to Leibnitz (born 1646 A.D., died 1716), 

 and is entitled Theodiccea ; or, a Vindication of God with refer- 

 ence to the Problem of Evil. In this work, the author asserts 

 that the world {i.e., universe), " as the work of God, must bo 

 the best of all possible worlds,^' where by possible he means 

 practicable or feasible. A better universe might be conceived, 

 he would say, but could not be realised, under the conditions 

 of actual existence.* His proof is an a priori one, drawn from 



* Ueberweg's if isfory of Philosophy {trsmslated hy Morris. Ed. 1880.), 

 vol. ii. p. 112. The writer begs to acknowledge, once for all, his obligations 

 to this admirable book, which combines impartiality and accuracy with 

 the utmost brevity attainable in such ni alters. 



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