The Value of Life 207Yet the number of suicides is still relatively small in
proportion to the multitude of those who live bravely on.
Only very few people give up the business of life because
of the presence of pain. What follows from this? Either it
is incorrect to say that the quantity of pain is greater than
the quantity of pleasure, or else we simply do not make
continuation of life dependent on the quantity of pleasure
or pain that we feel.
Eduard von Hartmann’s pessimism is unique in ex-
plaining life as worthless (because pain predominates),
and yet maintaining that we must go through it nonethe-
less. We must do so because the world purpose mentioned
above (p. 197) can be achieved only through ceaseless,
devoted human labor. But, as long as human beings still
pursue their egotistical desires, they are unsuited to such
selfless labor. They can devote themselves to their true
task only if they have convinced themselves, through ex-
perience and reason, that the pleasures in life striven for
by egotism cannot be attained. In this way, the conviction
of pessimism is supposed to be a source of selflessness.
An education based on pessimism is supposed to eradi-
cate egotism by presenting it with its own hopelessness.
In von Hartmann’s view, the striving for pleasure is
originally based in human nature. Only insight into the
impossibility of fulfillment makes this striving yield to
higher tasks for humanity.
But one cannot say that egotism is truly overcome by an
ethical worldview that seeks to achieve devotion to non-
egotistical life aims by the acceptance of pessimism. Eth-
ical ideals are said to be strong enough to master the will