Introduction

Contemporary ethics in the Anglophone sphere continues to find 18th and 19th century philosophy a fruitful source of conceptual tools for approaching complex moral issues. It is commonplace, and rightly so, to see sophisticated engagement with the likes of Hume, Hutcheson, Kant, Nietzsche, Mill, and Bentham as a means of advancing our understanding of morality and its relevance to other fields of philosophy. Consequently, Kant's moral philosophy will inevitably overlook the contingencies and peculiarities of the human experience, and especially the emotional dimension of moral deliberation. Despite pessimism being a pervasive feature of Schopenhauer's worldview, those unsympathetic to it may still find points of interest in Schopenhauer's responses to specific patterns of suffering in the world. Michael Cholbi explores Schopenhauer's reasoning behind his moral evaluation of suicide, putting his pessimism in welcome dialogue with contemporary arguments for anti-natalism, defended most prominently by David Benatar. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.