Philipp Mainlander has gained an internet following by being known as one of the most pessimistic philosophers. With the recent release of the first physical english translation of his work, The Philosophy of Redemption, us english readers can finally confirm this.
Perhaps the most pessimistic of his ideas is his will to death. You may be familiar with the will to life, an idea from Schopenhauer that generally states that we have an intrinsic drive to preserve our existence and to keep "existing" through our offspring. Mainlander agrees that there's this will to life, but it ultimately hides a secret will to death.
All life must end. Nature must grow old. For Mainlander, to will life is to will the essential elements of a life: aging, sickness, and death. Someone who decides to take their own life early and someone who ages and dies are on the same path, the difference to Mainlander is just that one path prolongs the inevitable.
Unfortunately, Mainlander took his own life at a young age. By reading his work, we encounter many ideas that might have motivated his decision. The will to death is just one, but in the video I explore two other essential parts of Mainlander that might've also played a role.
#philosophy #existentialism #ethics

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