List of philosophical pessimists

List of philosophers who have notably expressed philosophically pessimistic views in their works and contributed to its history.

List

Image	Name	Date of birth	Date of death	Nationality
	Julius Bahnsen[1][2]	30 March 1830	7 December 1881	German
	Ernest Becker[3][4]: 158–159	27 September 1924	6 March 1974	American
—	David Benatar[5][6][7]	8 December 1966	—	South African
	Ray Brassier[8][9][10]	22 December 1965	—	British
	The Buddha[4]: 130 [11][12]	c. 563 BC	c. 483 BC	Indian
	Julio Cabrera[13][14][15]	1944	—	Argentinian
	Albert Camus[16][17][18][19]	7 November 1913	4 January 1960	French
	Albert Caraco[20]	8 July 1919	7 September 1971	French-Uruguayan
	Emil Cioran[17][21]: 396	8 April 1911	20 June 1995	Romanian
—	David E. Cooper[22]	1 October 1942	—	British
—	Hegesias[21][23]	c. 290 BC	c. 290 BC	Greek
	Drew Dalton[24]	?	—	American
	Baltasar Gracián[21]	8 January 1601	6 December 1658	Spanish
	John Gray[9][19][25]	17 April 1948	—	English
	Eduard von Hartmann[1][2][6][7]	23 February 1842	5 June 1906	German
—	Ulrich Horstmann[26]	31 May 1949	—	German
	Omar Khayyam[27]	18 May 1048	4 December 1131	Persian
	Giacomo Leopardi[1][17][21]: 396	29 June 1798	14 June 1837	Italian
—	Thomas Ligotti[9][4][19][21]: 405	9 July 1953	—	American
	Al- Ma'arri[27]	December 973	May 1057	Arab
	Philipp Mainländer[1][2]	5 October 1841	1 April 1876	German
	Carlo Michelstaedter[28]	3 June 1887	17 October 1910	Italian
	Friedrich Nietzsche[7][17][21]: 396	15 October 1844	25 August 1900	German
	Olga Plümacher[1][2]	27 May 1839	c. 15 June 1895	German
	Blaise Pascal[17][21]: 396 [29]	19 June 1623	19 August 1662	French
	Arthur Schopenhauer[6][7][30][31]	22 February 1788	21 September 1860	German
—	Agnes Taubert[1][2]	7 January 1844	8 May 1877	German
—	Eugene Thacker[9][10][29]	?	—	American
—	Herman Tønnessen[32]	24 July 1918	2001	Norwegian-Canadian
	Miguel de Unamuno[17][29][33]	29 September 1864	31 December 1936	Spanish
	Peter Wessel Zapffe[6][34][35]	18 December 1899	12 October 1990	Norwegian