Utopian Pessimism or the World as Emptiness and Mythos

Utopian pessimism is a reinterpretation of classical pessimism. Its starting point is, as Schopenhauer wanted, Buddhism, but from a deeper reading of it, understanding that the pessimists of the 19th and 20th century did not have access to primary sources as abundant as those available today. From there, the system is constructed (or reconstructed) in its totality, showing that the world, beyond Will and representation, is emptiness and Mythos. The first category is taken from the Buddhist tradition, while the second represents, to a certain extent, a new way of epistemological enquiry. The intention of this paper is to present, introduce and disseminate utopian pessimism and the thesis on which it is based; it is not, nor does it pretend to be, an arduous research article, but rather an invitation, an essay, which gives an account of the gestation of this form of pessimism and its main ideas.