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Concept information

social science subjects > sociology > social theory > critical theory > pessimism
... > social science subjects > politics and international relations > political science > political theory > critical theory > pessimism

Preferred term

pessimism  

Definition

  • Often misunderstood as a negative disposition, pessimism is a long-standing tradition in modern political philosophy with roots in ancient philosophies of the self, such as Stoicism and Epicureanism. Like its opposite, optimism (which takes a variety of philosophical forms in liberalism, Marxism, and pragmatism, for example), pessimism presupposes modern linear conceptions of time, which replaced the cyclical accounts of ancient philosophers and historians in the late Renaissance period. [Source: Encyclopedia of Political Theory; Pessimism]

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/N9J-V6LR55LR-9

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