Video is now available from our November 18, 2025, Theorizing the Present event with Roy Scranton, Climate Change and the Virtues of Pessimism.
We are urged to remain optimistic about solving climate change, but does this really make any sense? There are good reasons for being pessimistic about our ongoing global ecological crisis. Pessimistic messaging can’t be dismissed on practical grounds, since evidence shows that it actually works. And despite the criticisms often lobbed against it, pessimism cannot be reasonably dismissed as nihilistic, fatalistic, or a counsel of despair. Finally, there is virtue in pessimism: it is not only an accurate and resilient way of thinking about our predicament, but it is also compassionate, democratic, inclusive, and responsible. Indeed, given the gravity of our situation, pessimism may be our only hope.
