Winner of the 2006 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers "Mr. Dienstag aims to rescue pessimism from the philosophical sidelines, where it has been shunted by optimists of all ideologies. The book is seductive, because pessimists are generally more engaging and entertaining than optimists, and because, as the author notes, 'the world keeps delivering bad news.' It is almost tempting to throw up one's hands and sign on with Schopenhauer."
Adam Cohen, The New York Times "The pessimism that Joshua Foa Dienstag seeks to celebrate in his engaging book can be joyful... Philosophical pessimism is an ethic that offers practices to tackle a mistaken belief in human progress... His version of pessimism is of the best sort because it leads to activity."
Mark Vernon, Times Literary Supplement "[An] absorbing study... Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit examines the pessimistic tradition in all its variants
cultural, metaphysical and existential
and analyzes the works of some of its chief practitioners... When at his best in making his case for the vitality and pertinence of pessimism, Mr. Dienstag may well cause readers to wonder whether they should take up pessimism as their own philosophy."
Joseph Epstein, Wall Street Journal "A necessary corrective to the unfettered optimism or faith in progress seen in recent world history... [C]omprehensive, readable, and thought provoking."
Library Journal "Joshua Foa Dienstag's rich and subtle book blows away ... facile and narrow-minded understandings of pessimism, which invariably reduce it to little more than a mood or a character trait. Dienstag ... holds that pessimism is a serious and coherent philosophical perspective... Pessimistm: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit is a work of exact scholarship... [T]he value of the book comes from its brilliant nuances."
Scott McLemee, Newsday "Dienstag's gallery of incompatibles proves that pessimists can't be made to march in step, even as a coherent philosophical tradition. And the other thing that this densely argued, but always lively and engaging, book successfully proves is that pessimism works best when it drops the arguments in its favor and settles for bitter laughter."
Lawrence Klepp, Weekly Standard "These studies are quite insightful. A critic might object that, in attempting to discern the limits of meliorism, pessimism fails to recognize that those limits themselves may be discerned only in hindsight. Pessimism might respond that this is itself another instance of those limits... Highly recommended."
Choice "Dienstag manages to make Nietzschean pessimism seem attractive
even to optimists."
Raymond B. Marcin, Review of Politics "Dienstag's ... book is not just a study in political theory but a challenge to its contemporary practice, and for this he deserves our gratitude... [B]old, original and admirable."
Ryan Patrick Hanley, American Political Science Review "Pessimism was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested in the theme. The author's use of aphorisms at the end of the book was especially stirring, as it was clear that the author was enjoying his subject. Dienstag's work is creative and learned, and even with the critical remarks above, is well argued and will hopefully open up a space where more research into this marginalized tradition will arise."
Michael Bruce, Metapsychology Online Reviews "There is much to admire in [this] book, especially [its] ambitious scope and original choice of characters... Dienstag's book is a balanced appraisal and a nuanced endorsement of a long tradition in modern thought, that attempts to reframe the history of political thought so that pessimism becomes one of its major strands."
Aurelian Craiutu, European Journal of Political Theory