Optimism and pessimism

שו”ת › Optimism and pessimism

asked 8 years ago

Do you think that just as one can convince a person of a philosophical position, through logic and rhetoric, etc., can one also convince them to change from pessimistic to optimistic or vice versa?

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מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago

My assumption is that a philosophical position is not a state of mind or a mental trait, but a worldview. A conclusion about facts. Logic and rhetoric in the sense I’m talking about are ways that appeal to reason and not emotion. Therefore, in your question, it also depends on whether you are talking about pessimism and optimism as a trait or as a worldview. A person who believes that the world is heading towards catastrophe is talking about facts. This is a worldview, because that is what he believes will actually happen. Since these are facts, you can try to convince him with various arguments that this is not true. In fact, the world is not heading towards catastrophe. But if the person is talking about his subjective feelings, meaning he is in fear as if a catastrophe is about to happen (not because of a factual assessment but because of a pessimistic nature), here there is less room for persuasion (although you can try to demonstrate to him why he sees things incorrectly), and more for psychological therapy (which will probably not be successful, as is the case with psychological therapies).

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מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

n's response to my email:
My intention was to give value to feelings. A pessimistic person tends to give more value and importance to feelings of suffering (both his own and those of others). An optimistic person will give more value to feelings of happiness. Is there a way to know which of them is right? Is any of them right? In my opinion, the matter has major moral implications (which I would prefer not to go into here)

I don't see what's new here beyond what I answered. You're describing feelings and emotions and tendencies. These are not facts or questions of values, and therefore I don't see any point in discussing what is right and what is wrong and making arguments about this matter. It's a question of whether it bothers you or not, and therefore it's a matter for psychological therapy and not for philosophical discussion.