Eduard von Hartmann (1842-1906) was one of the most widely read German thinkers of his time and the protagonist of the controversy over pessimism that took place at the end of the 19th century. His work, against which a multitude of scandalized writers, theologians, philosophers and scientists rose up in rebellion, and to which many others, such as Nietzsche or Freud, applied themselves, inaugurated a new stage in the philosophical development of Germany.

For Hartmann, this is the best of all possible worlds, but, he adds, that does not mean that it is good, because it is under the rule of the Will, whose manifestation reveals nothing but eternal dissatisfaction. Pain, and not pleasure, is the prius of the universe. Pessimism, which takes this situation into account and proposes, as a vital objective, a reduction of suffering carried out with aplomb and humor, is the only consolation left to humanity.