| 释义 |
pessimism|ˈpɛsɪmɪz(ə)m|
[mod. f. L. pessim-us worst + -ism, after optimism: in F. pessimisme.]
†1. The worst condition or degree possible or conceivable; the state of greatest deterioration: antithetical to optimism 2. Obs.
1794Coleridge Lett. (1895) 115 'T is almost as bad as Lovell's ‘Farmhouse’, and that would be at least a thousand fathoms deep in the dead sea of pessimism. 1803Syd. Smith Wks. (1850) 35 It is well to be acquainted with the boundaries of our nature on both sides; and to Mr. Fievée we are indebted for this valuable approach to pessimism. 1812Southey Lett. (1856) II. 253 An age when public criticism is upon works of fine literature at the very point of pessimism.
2. The tendency or disposition to look at the worst aspect of things; the habit of taking the gloomiest view of circumstances: antithetical to optimism 3.
1815Q. Rev. XIV. 230 This savours of pessimism. 1835Edin. Rev. LX. 291 Violent extremes either way—optimism or pessimism..must be pernicious. 1889Times 12 Apr. 5/1 There was a fear of the contagion of that moral evil which was visiting the end of the 19th century—namely pessimism.
3. The name given to the doctrine of Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and other earlier and later philosophers, that this world is the worst possible, or that everything naturally tends to evil: opp. to optimism 1. [= Ger. pessimismus (Schopenhauer 1819), F. pessimisme (Dict. Acad. 1878).]
1878Dowden Stud. Lit. 20 The pessimism of our own day aspires to be constructive. 1878R. J. Lloyd (title) Pessimism, a study in contemporary Sociology. 1880Goldw. Smith in Atlantic Monthly No. 268. 195 The established optimism is confronted by pessimism, which, by the mouths of Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and their school, proclaims that the world, the estate of man, and the powers from which they emanate, are evil. Ibid. 196 Pessimism, which affirms the definitive ascendency of evil. 1892W. S. Lilly Gt. Enigma 32 Pessimism, in..its contemporary presentation, is irreconcileable with any form of the Theistic idea. |