Abstract

We comment here one of the most categorical, radical and fundamental concepts of Schopenhauer’s pessimism: the theory of positivity of pain and negativity of pleasure. We present its development in the philosopher’s capital work The World as Will and Representation and defend that it is present in a vital way in his three metaphysics, but is only made explicit in the last (of customs). Finally, we “dialogue” with the problematical issues that G. Simmel and C. Janaway address this argument and propose a possible explanation of the thinker’s strategy to reserve its notability to the last book