Young Kant, Optimistic Kant

This paper discusses Kant's early writings on optimism with an eye to his later pessimism. Kant's early discussion of optimism makes the distinction between optimism, which defends the goodness of our individual existence despite our suffering, and optimalism, a kind of theodicy that defends God's choice of this world along with all of its evils. It argues that Kant's early optimism, which is about one's present happiness, should be distinguished from his later discussion of hope, which concerns one's future happiness. The paper concludes by interpreting Kant's argument against suicide in the Groundwork in light of his youthful optimism.