Though it is not very widely discussed in the Anglophone world, Lebensphilosophie was a key movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe. The conceptual anchor of Lebensphilosophie, as its name suggests, is that of “life” (5)—in particular, human life (6). It is from this standpoint that the exponents of Lebensphilosophie propose to offer a distinctive philosophical standpoint. First, Lebensphilosophie is a reaction against 19th century pessimism, propounded by Schopenhauer and a number of other figures. The pessimist of Schopenhauer’s stripe famously maintains that it is better never to have been born than to have our lot of ceaseless striving and pervasive suffering. Against this pessimism, Lebensphilosophie holds that life is a positive locus of value, and that life is worth living,…

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