Evil, Suffering, and Pessimism: Readings from the Darker Side of Modern Philosophy

Is it possible to explain the existence of evil under the supposition of a supremely good creator? Are we ourselves the cause of most of the suffering that befalls us? Is life generally more painful than it is pleasant, and if so is non-existence preferable to existence? Is happiness ever even attainable?

These questions occupied some of the best-known philosophers of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries—figures such as G. W. Leibniz, Pierre Bayle, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche. They were also richly discussed by writers often since excluded from the philosophical canon, such as Ottobah Cugoano, Mary Astell, and Olga Plumacher. In this unique and provocative anthology, one will find philosophers bending their intellectual efforts to the darker side of life.

• Preface

• • Chapter 1: Bayle on the Insoluble Problem of Evil
  • • Pierre Bayle, The Historical and Critical Dictionary, from “Manicheans”
    • Pierre Bayle, The Historical and Critical Dictionary, from “Paulicians”
  • Chapter 2: Philosophical Optimism: Leibniz and Pope
  • • Alexander Pope, from An Essay on Man
    • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, from Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man, and the Origin of Evil
  • Chapter 3: Atrocious Evil: Voltaire, Rousseau, and Cugoano
  • • Voltaire, “On the Lisbon Disaster”
    • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from “A Letter from M. Rousseau to M. de Voltaire”
    • Ottobah Cugoano, from Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species
  • Chapter 4: Hume and Kant on the Impossibility of Theodicy
  • • David Hume, Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, Part XI
    • Immanuel Kant, from “On the Failure of All Philosophical Attempts at Theodicy”

• • Chapter 5: Bayle and Hume on Physical Evil
  • • Pierre Bayle, The Historical and Critical Dictionary, from “Xenophanes”
    • David Hume, Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, from Part X
  • Chapter 6: Sources of Suffering: Rousseau and Astell
  • • Jean-Jacques Rousseau, from Discourse on the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality of Mankind
    • Mary Astell, from Some Reflections upon Marriage

• • Chapter 7: Schopenhauer on the Case for Pessimism
  • • Arthur Schopenhauer, from The World as Will and Representation, Volume I
    • Arthur Schopenhauer, from The World as Will and Representation, Volume II
  • Chapter 8: Defending Pessimism: Von Hartmann and Plumacher
  • • Eduard von Hartmann, from The Philosophy of the Unconscious
    • Olga Plumacher, from “Pessimism”
  • Chapter 9: Schopenhauer and Nietzsche on Redemption through Art
  • • Arthur Schopenhauer, from The World as Will and Representation, Volume I
    • Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Birth of Tragedy
  • Chapter 10: The Negation and Affirmation of Life: Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
  • • Arthur Schopenhauer, from The World as Will and Representation, Volume I
    • Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Genealogy of Morals, Essay III
    • Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Birth of Tragedy, “An Attempt at Self-Criticism”
    • Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Joyful Wisdom
• Sources

Corey W. Dyck is Professor and Chair of the Philosophy department at the University of Western Ontario and has published a number of books on early modern philosophy, including most recently Wolff and the First Fifty Years of German Metaphysics (Oxford UP, 2024). Fabio Malfara is a doctoral student at the University of Western Ontario. Ignacio L. Moya is an instructor at Sheridan College and the author of several essays on philosophical pessimism.

“This excellent anthology opens fresh pathways into modern and nineteenth-century philosophy. Each selection has been meticulously edited for clarity and provided with a thoughtful introduction. The readings follow a coherent trajectory and complement recent scholarship on evil, suffering, and pessimism. Both accessible and rigorous, this reader will appeal to students and scholars alike.” — Ian Proops, University of Texas at Austin

“This anthology brings together classic and lesser-known texts on the problem of evil in a strikingly original way, using a topic usually sidelined in early modern philosophy as a guiding framework for introducing the period. It provides an engaging entry point into the intellectual foundations of modern Western philosophy while also providing essential historical context for contemporary debates in the philosophy of religion.” — Michael Hickson, Trent University

“The readings are well chosen—I especially applaud the choices to start with Bayle and to end with Nietzsche. The editors’ introductions to each major section are helpful and clear without being simplistic, so that readers get a meaningful look not only at the content of each selection but also at the similarities and differences between the authors.” — Ted Kinnaman, George Mason University

“This volume provides a thoughtfully curated collection of texts from the ‘dark side’ of modern philosophy. It contains a good balance of optimism and pessimism, both about the human condition itself and about the possibility of finding any consolation. I often teach courses on the problem of evil in the early modern period, and this is the collection I will use next time I do.” — Adam Harmer, University of California, Riverside