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A bibliography of books and academic papers on philosophical pessimism — a philosophical tradition which argues that life is not worth living and that non-existence is preferable to existence.

Primary literature

Books

• Benatar, David (2006). Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199296422.
• Benatar, David (2017). The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-063381-3.
• Cabrera, Julio (2019). Discomfort and Moral Impediment: The Human Situation, Radical Bioethics and Procreation. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5275-1803-2. OCLC 1078636651.
• Camus, Albert (2018) . The Myth of Sisyphus. Vintage. ISBN 978-0525564454.
• Cioran, Emil (2012) . A Short History of Decay [Précis de decomposition]. Translated by Howard, Richard. New York: Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61145-736-0.
• Dalton, Drew M. (2023). The Matter of Evil: From Speculative Realism to Ethical Pessimism. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0810146402.
• Leopardi, Giacomo (1882) . Essays and Dialogues [Operette Morali]. Translated by Edwardes, Charles. London: Trübner & co., Lundgate Hill.
• Mainländer, Philipp (2024) . Philosophy of Redemption [Die Philosophie der Erlösung]. Brisbane: Irukandji Press. ISBN 978-0-6454980-7-3.
• Schopenhauer, Arthur (2010) . Welchman, Alistair; Janaway, Christopher; Norman, Judith (eds.). The World as Will and Representation. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511780943. ISBN 978-0-521-87184-6.
• Schopenhauer, Arthur (2018) . Welchman, Alistair; Janaway, Christopher; Norman, Judith (eds.). The World as Will and Representation. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9780511843112. ISBN 978-0-521-87034-4.
• von Hartmann, Eduard (1884) . Philosophy of the Unconscious: Speculative Results According to the Inductive Method of Physical Science. Translated by Coupland, William Chatterton. London: Trübner & co., Lundgate Hill.
• Zapffe, Peter Wessel (2024) . On the Tragic. Translated by Showler, Ryan L. New York: Peter Lang. doi:10.3726/b20965. ISBN 978-1-636-67488-9. LCCN 2023043423.

Book chapters

• Metzinger, Thomas (2017). "Suffering" (PDF). In Almqvist, Kurt; Haag, Anders (eds.). The Return of Consciousness. Stockholm: Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation. pp. 237–262. ISBN 978-91-89672-90-1.

Essays

• Tønnessen, Herman (1966). "Happiness is for the Pigs". Journal of Existentialism. No. VII. pp. 181–214.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
• Zapffe, Peter Wessel (2004) . "The Last Messiah". Philosophy Now. No. 45. Translated by Tangenes, Gisle R. pp. 35–39. ISSN 0961-5970. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2022-09-18.

Academic papers

• Contestabile, Bruno (2016). "The Denial of the World from an Impartial View". Contemporary Buddhism. 17: 49–61. doi:10.1080/14639947.2015.1104003. S2CID 148168698. Archived from the original on 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2022-09-18. Penultimate draft Archived 2023-09-02 at the Wayback Machine
• Prescott, Paul (2012). "What Pessimism Is". Journal of Philosophical Research. 37: 337–356. doi:10.5840/jpr20123716.

Secondary literature

Books

• Beiser, Frederick C. (2016). Weltschmerz: Pessimism in German Philosophy, 1860–1900. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-876871-5. OCLC 929590292. Archived from the original on 2024-09-29. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
• Coates, Ken (2016). Anti-Natalism: Rejectionist Philosophy from Buddhism to Benatar. First Edition Design Publishing. ISBN 978-1506-902-40-1.
• Dienstag, Joshua Foa (2009). Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14112-1.
• Feltham, Colin (2016). Depressive Realism: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-58482-7.
• Hassan, Patrick (2023). Nietzsche's Struggle against Pessimism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1009380270.
• Ligotti, Thomas (2011). The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror. New York: Hippocampus Press. ISBN 978-0-9844802-7-2. OCLC 805656473.
• Saltus, Edgar (1885). The Philosophy of Disenchantment. New York: Belford. Archived from the original on 2023-08-05. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
• Segev, Mor (2022). The Value of the World and of Oneself: Philosophical Optimism and Pessimism from Aristotle to Modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-197-63407-3.
• Sully, James (1877). Pessimism: A History and a Criticism. London: Henry S. King & Co.
• Tsanoff, Radoslav A. (1931). The Nature of Evil. New York: The MacMillan Company.
• van der Lugt, Mara (2021). Dark Matters: Pessimism and the Problem of Suffering. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-20662-2.

Book chapters

• Cholbi, Michael (2021). "Schopenhauer, Suicide, and Contemporary Pessimism". In Hassan, Patrick (ed.). Schopenhauer's Moral Philosophy. New York: Routledge. pp. 141–159. doi:10.4324/9781003090953-8. ISBN 978-0367547721.
• Janaway, Christopher (1999). "Schopenhauer's Pessimism". In Janaway, Christopher (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Schopenhauer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 318–343. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521621062.011. ISBN 978-0521621069.
• Simmons, Byron (2024). "Schopenhauer's Pessimism". In Bather Woods, David; Stoll, Timothy (eds.). The Schopenhauerian Mind. Oxon: Routledge. pp. 282–296. ISBN 9780367501532.

Academic papers

• Fox, Joshua Isaac (2022). "Does Schopenhauer Accept Any Positive Pleasures?". European Journal of Philosophy. 31 (4): 902–913. doi:10.1111/ejop.12830.
• Hassan, Patrick (2021). "Individual vs. World in Schopenhauer's Pessimism". The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 59 (2): 122–152. doi:10.1111/sjp.12401. S2CID 234303325. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
• Hassan, Patrick (2021). "Striving as Suffering: Schopenhauer's A Priori Argument for Pessimism". Philosophia. 49 (4): 1487–1505. doi:10.1007/s11406-020-00316-0. S2CID 234157970. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.
• Janaway, Christopher (2018). "Schopenhauer on the Aimlessness of the Will". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 26 (2): 331–347. doi:10.1080/09608788.2017.1393619. Archived from the original on 2023-11-05. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
• Janaway, Christopher (2022). "Worse than the best possible pessimism? Olga Plümacher's critique of Schopenhauer". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 30 (2): 211–230. doi:10.1080/09608788.2021.1881441. S2CID 233897050.
• Prescott, Paul (2012). "What Pessimism Is" (PDF). Journal of Philosophical Research. 37: 337–356. doi:10.5840/jpr20123716. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
• Simmons, Byron (2021). "A Thousand Pleasures Are Not Worth a Single Pain: The Compensation Argument for Schopenhauer's Pessimism". European Journal of Philosophy. 29 (1): 120–136. doi:10.1111/ejop.12561. S2CID 225685721. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-18.

Books in other languages

There are also some works that have no English translations or which translated versions vary to a high degree with respect to the original.

• Bahnsen, Julius (1877). Das Tragische als Weltgesetz und der Humor als ästhetische Gestalt des Metaphysischen [The Tragical as World Law and Humor as Aesthetic Shape of the Metaphysical] (in German). Lauenberg: Verlag von F. Ferley.
• Cabrera, Julio (2018). Mal-Estar e Moralidade: Situação Humana, ética e Procriação [Discomfort and Moral Impediment: The Human Situation, Radical Bioethics and Procreation] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Brasília: Editora Universidade de Brasília. ISBN 978-85-230-1218-2.
• Mainländer, Philipp (1996) . Die Philosophie Der Erlosung. Erster Band [Philosophy of Redemption. Volume 1] (in German). Olms, Georg Verlag AG. ISBN 978-3487095561.
• Mainländer, Philipp (1996) . Die Philosophie Der Erlosung. Zweiter Band [Philosophy of Redemption. Volume 2] (in German). Olms, Georg Verlag AG. ISBN 978-3487095578.

• Philosophy bibliographies
• Humanities bibliographies
• Philosophical pessimism