New-York tribune., 1885-07-04
NEW PUBLICATIONS
MODERN PESSIMISM.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF DIsENCHANTME3sNI:u by
EpoAR EvERTsoN sAITUs. bos'o" "0"sA"-
Mi6n & Co.
Modern Tess,mism is necessarily more compre-
hensiye than that of Lucretius lnasmuch as it is
bassd upon a more extensive survey OF things
Schop.uhauer in his exhaustive analysis aimed az
the dissection of all philosophy and religion, and
ths creation of such synthess OF human thought
as must forever settle the question against the opt
mists. Hartmann added nothing OF Importance 10
Schopen enhauers work. but he discredited Pessimism
Inv the extravagance of his ideas regarding the
practcability of bringing existence to an end NOW
Schopenhauer was above all practical lie
thoroughly appreciated the COMMON tendencies ol
human natare. and lie permitted himself Few liiu.
sons And Schopenhauer represented the peht oi
the modern spirit when dssociated from lhtnitiVe
knowledge, and especially the religious sentiment
With this ex clusion Pessmsm must have itsown way
schopenhauer indeed believed that lie had also IN
cluded intuitiona knowledge that he had dissected
Il and found nothing but hallucnation and thathis
work was final inasmuch as he left no room for re-
oction on the imaginative side of the human mind.
, Rut his insight though clear was restricted, and
the tendencies of his intellect were so strongly
toward scientific materiasm that he was literally
incapable of comprehendIng spiritual arguments
He first stripped the universe OF spirit, and then
very easily proved the debasement of matter. III,
indeed this the only life to which man is destined
there is no answer to Pessmism. And it must be
admitted that most religions have unwlttngly con-
tributed to build up that gloomy doctrine by mold
ing that this life at best is anything but sweet.
Thus Christianity teaches that the world is a vale
of tears; Brahniinism that it ID an evil to be en-
dured: or to employ the words of Mr.. Saltus. life
to the Christian is a probation. to the BrahInn
burden to the Buddhist a dream, and to the
Pessimist nightmare"
1t is this nightmare which he seeks to dispense to
his neighbors by presenting them with Il treatise
analyzng modern Pessimism from the point OF view
of believer in It's truth. He gives outline sketches
of Leonardo Schoponhauer. Won Hartmann and
other Brothers of the Shadow " as they may be
STYLED, and he concludes with conviction that
there is no more to be said on the subject. And II
the pessmist assumptions are granted he is right.
ior Schopenhauer assuredly has brought to their
logical conclusion the arguments derived kfrom
modern materiallstic science If that is right in
asserting thought to be mode of motion in the
usual sense; if the axiom without phosphorus no
thought is conceded; if life is but manifestation
of matter; then the pessmists are the only sound
philosophers we have among us, and they are en-
tirely warranted in maintaining that LIE IS very
poor joke or a very dismal failure
But these assumptions cannot be granted to the
pessimists Schopcnhsuer, ard all his school. beg
the question constantly ard necessarily. Before
the question can be answered." Is this bad or
good life i-another one must be met namely
"What is the ultimate purpose OF lfcT III tins
latter cannot he replied to there can exist no basis
for n sound pessmist conclusion because. for all
aay ono knows, the present phase of life may be
but link In chain. means to an end. single
step n progress toward that far-of divine event
to which the whole creation moves" Nor is it true,
so far as observation indicates, that unhappiness
prevails in this life. Philosophers naturally repre-
sent mankind to themselves as being equally sensl-
tive; but it is not 50. and when what some would
reckon misery does not produce untappness 1t is
as if the cause had no existence. Tie pessmists,
moreover, in denying happiness usually ignore the
fact patent to most observers that simple existence
constitutes happiness for all healthy organisms.
Active felicity is not required. Complete perform
ance of every function sufces for conteDtment to
large percentage of living beings. so that if the
argument were pressed it might not be difficult to
show that even with all their grounds allowed tie
pessimIsts have not an mex pugnabe position
But the practical against them lies in the
appeal from matter to spirit; from the mcrocosm
20 the macrocosm. Aud whoever attempts such
defence of the equities of the universe must recog
nize clearly the distinctions between the truths
which modern science has demonstrated, and the
specnlations which the scientific imagination has
created in its unscientic impatience to complete
researches which have thus far bai!ed physical
analysis. BY far the greater part of the pcssimist
doctrines will then be found to rest upon conject-
ure. wild and unwarrantod and TO have no foun-
dation in demonstrated truth To say that physical
science affords clcw to the deep problems of ex-
jstence is to state the simple fact yet already an
immense body of dOgmatic assertion has been
reared upon this state of absolute negation and 1t
has been employed as an arsenal by the champions
of aggressive materialism. There is perhaps no
danger that Scbopenhauer will ever become the
Apostle of a new Gospel of Despair. Human nature
is so constituted that Pessimism is impossible to
tho young repusive to the healthy middle-aecd
and only welcome to decrepit age and minds Of
morbid tone. It's exaggeratons rather astonsh than
convince and the average student wonders what
pathological conditions could have been combined
to darken life so completely for the advocates Of
this unhappy philosophy.
L Perhaps in world representing all possible
varieties of physical and mental combination it IS
necessary that there should be pcssmists. They
are to philosophy what the bears" are to the
stock market, in fact But because these honest
dsbelievers in every thing hopeful insist shut
ting their eyes to the immense body of evidence
which by making for the existence Of spirit discred
its if it does not disprove their conclusions it does
not follow that Pessilnsm is to be received with
IcSpeCtlut tuat ito C"ttuo oHouiu NC
welcomed. at the best it Is abnormal and
morbid intellectual growth an extension and
cxagguIation of that purblind materialism which
confounds word-juggling with reasoning, and the
tendency of which is to commit cautious Science to
differences she has never ventnred upon and con-
cluslons she has not formed. Schopenhauer made
the pessimist school interesting by informing it
with real genius. but though the power of his writ
ings Is undcpiable, and the wealth of his illustration