Pessimism controversy
The pessimism controversy or pessimism dispute is a largely forgotten intellectual controversy that occurred in Germany, starting in the 1860s and ending around the beginning of the First World War. Philosophers who took part included Eugen Dühring, Eduard von Hartmann, neo-Kantians, Agnes Taubert, Olga Plümacher and critics of von Hartmann. The controversy first arose as a response to Arthur Schopenhauer's growing posthumous public recognition in the 1860s. This led to the publication of a wide array of criticisms, attacking his pessimism. The publication of Hartmann's Philosophy of the Unconscious, in 1869, which reaffirmed and further developed Schopenhauer's doctrine, reinvigorated the controversy. He published a great number of articles and four books in response to his critics, throughout the 1870s and 1880s. Agnes Taubert published Der Pessimismus und seine Gegner, in 1873, in response to criticism of her husband, which had a strong influence on the controversy.
