{"product_id":"the-value-of-the-world-mor-segev-9780197634073","title":"The Value of the World and of Oneself: Philosophical Optimism and Pessimism from Aristotle to Modernity","description":"Philosophical optimists maintain that the world is optimally arranged and is accordingly valuable, and that the existence of human beings is preferable to their nonexistence. Philosophical pessimists, by contrast, would prefer human nonexistence, considering the world to be in a woeful condition and ultimately valueless. \u003cem\u003eThe Value of the World and of Oneself\u003c\/em\u003e examines the longstanding debate between philosophical optimism and pessimism in the history of philosophy, focusing on Aristotle, Maimonides, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Camus. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAuthor Mor Segev examines how Schopenhauer criticizes the optimism he locates in the Hebrew Bible and in Spinoza for being unable to square the presumed perfection of the world and its parts, including human life, with the suffering and misfortunes observable in them, and for leading to egoism and thereby to cruelty. Nietzsche, in turn, criticizes Schopenhauer's overtly pessimistic view for furtively positing a perfect state for one to aspire to, thus being latently optimistic. Similarly, Camus charges Nietzsche, who announces his rejection of both optimism and pessimism, with deifying the world and oneself, thereby reverting to optimism. Aristotle countenances an optimistic theory, later adopted and developed by Maimonides, that is arguably capable of facing Schopenhauer's challenge. Aristotelian optimism, Segev argues, accounts for the perfection of the world in terms of a hierarchy of value between its parts, with human beings ranked relatively low, and recommends an attitude congruent with that ranking. A wide-ranging survey of the major theorists of optimism and pessimism, \u003cem\u003eThe Value of the World and of Oneself\u003c\/em\u003e reorients our interpretations of crucial thinkers via Segev's remarkable grasp of the philosophical canon's multi-millennial history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mor Segev\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0197634079\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780197634073\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/14\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.80w x 1.00d","brand":"Mor Segev","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44054778118399,"sku":"9780197634073","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_09abf71c-3357-44cb-bfea-f845ef91026a.jpg?v=1685031937","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-value-of-the-world-mor-segev-9780197634073","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}