Liz Frissell

This book review of David E. Cooper’s Pessimism, Quietism and Nature as Refuge evaluates the work’s ideas on ways of life. The review begins by presenting a summary of Cooper’s work, focusing on his presentation and answer to the problem of managing the disquiet mood found in pessimistic misanthropes. This summary entails agreement with his rejections of amnesia, nihilism, and activism as potential solutions to disquiet. This review then emphasizes Cooper’s presentation of a new quietism – with roots in Daoism and Confucianism, as well as the novel inclusion of refuge in nature – as the best way of accommodating disquiet in one’s life. Finally, the review presents two critiques of Cooper’s work; ideas that needed to be further explicated. First, the realizability of the quietism Cooper promotes, as his rejections of nihilism and activism are based on their impracticality. Second, how the quietist’s hope impacts their mood, since his goal is to provide a way for individuals to overcome a mood of disquiet.

The paper begins by emphasizing the importance of so-called complete philosophical works on ontology to include ideas on mood and emotions, noting the lack of this inclusion in many texts. Next, it uses and dives into Heidegger’s Being & Time, as an example of an ontological work that aptly includes explanations of mood & emotions, or “attunement” in Heideggerian terms. It is also noted the critical difference between Heidegger’s approach to these topics and the approach taken by psychologists and those in similar fields. Finally, the paper concludes by arguing for the importance of Being & Time, Heidegger, and ontological work on mood.