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Originally Posted by Dharma & Greg
It's not pessimistic it's completely neutral. Meaning is a human psychological invention that has no value that we don't subjectively give it. You literally can't argue against that. Even if you're coming from a religious point of view you'd have to presuppose that a deity could create objective meaning even though that meaning would also be a subjective invention. It's not pessimism vs. optimism. It's common sense vs. stupidity.
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I would agree that meaning is a psychological construct, but such a thing can be said for most everything to do with the human condition. Meaning, similar to existence itself, isn't a tangible thing that can be proven or disproven- instead it's relegated to the realm of perspective. It lies within the same ideological realm as the existence of a deity. The reason religion has existed for so long is because you can't, without a shadow of a doubt, prove that there is no god. It relies on perspective. I don't really believe in a higher "meaning" or metaphysical endgame for the human race, but I still hold existence as meaningful in the vein that the experience it a good thing that should be cherished. To see existence as unmeaningful is also a matter of perspective, but one I believe to be an extreme form of pessimism and skepticism, aka nihilism.
As for the continued debate on the pessimism of nihilism, I think the
IEP gives a good summary for nihilism:
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Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. While few philosophers would claim to be nihilists, nihilism is most often associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history. In the 20th century, nihilistic themes--epistemological failure, value destruction, and cosmic purposelessness--have preoccupied artists, social critics, and philosophers. Mid-century, for example, the existentialists helped popularize tenets of nihilism in their attempts to blunt its destructive potential. By the end of the century, existential despair as a response to nihilism gave way to an attitude of indifference, often associated with antifoundationalism.
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I find condemnation of existence itself to be a pessimistic philosophy. Honestly though I'm beginning to entrench myself waayy to much into the realm of existential philosophy and I think it's beginning to be a bit too much for a Saturday afternoon.