This audiobook is narrated by a digital voice.

This audiobook emerges from a contemplation of a simple yet unsettling question: What if life, at its core, is not a gift, but a burden? The philosophical school of thought known as Philosophical Pessimism confronts this question not with despair, but with rigorous reflection, historical depth, and often, uncomfortable honesty. It stands in contrast to the dominant ideologies of progress, optimism, and human perfectibility that color much of Western thought. Rather than assuming that life tends toward improvement or fulfillment, Philosophical Pessimism interrogates the very structure of existence, desire, and consciousness, often arriving at conclusions that resist comfort.

Philosophical Pessimism is not merely a mood or psychological disposition, nor is it reducible to cynicism or nihilism. It is a well-developed intellectual tradition, spanning centuries and drawing from some of philosophy's most provocative minds—Arthur Schopenhauer, Philipp Mainländer, Eduard von Hartmann, and, in a more literary and psychological form, figures like Emil Cioran and Thomas Ligotti. Each offers a different vantage point on suffering, futility, and the tension between existence and non-existence. What unites them is the conviction that suffering is not accidental, but intrinsic to life itself; that desire, rather than being a path to satisfaction, is a source of perpetual unrest; and that the world may lack the metaphysical justifications human beings so ardently seek.

This audiobook does not aim to proselytize despair, nor does it presume that pessimism must lead to inaction or resignation. Instead, it seeks to clarify and explore the insights of this challenging school of thought—its critiques of optimism, its ethical implications, its views on art, meaning, and death.