What has been _calumniated_? That which has tended to separate higher men from their inferiors, the instincts which cleave gulfs and build barriers. 33. Causes effecting the _rise of Pessimism_:-- (1) The most powerful instincts and those which promised most for the future have hitherto been _calumniated,_ so that life has a curse upon it. (2) The growing bravery and the more daring mistrust on the part of man have led him to discover the fact that _these instincts cannot be cut adrift from life,_ and thus he turns to embrace life. (3) Only the most _mediocre,_ who are not _conscious_ of this conflict, prosper; the higher species fail, and as an example of degeneration tend to dispose all hearts against them--on the other hand, there is some indignation caused by the mediocre positing themselves as the end and meaning of all things. No one can any longer reply to the question: "Why?" (4) Belittlement, susceptibility to pain, unrest, haste, and confusion are steadily increasing--the materialisation of all these tendencies, which is called "civilisation," becomes every day more simple, with the result that, in the face of the monstrous machine, the individual _despairs_ and _surrenders._ 34. Modern Pessimism is an expression of the uselessness only of the _modern_ world, not of the world and existence as such. 35. The "preponderance of _pain over pleasure"_ or the reverse (Hedonism); both of these doctrines are already signposts to Nihilism.... For here, in both cases, no other final purpose is sought than the phenomenon pleasure or pain. But only a man who no longer dares to posit a will, a purpose, and a final goal can speak in this way--according to every healthy type of man, the worth of life is certainly not measured by the standard of these secondary things. And a _preponderance_ of pain would be possible and, _in spite of it,_ a mighty will, a _saying of yea_ to life, and a holding of this preponderance for necessary. "Life is not worth living"; "Resignation"; "what is the good of tears?"--this is a feeble and sentimental attitude of mind. "_Un monstre gai vaut mieux qu'un sentimental ennuyeux._" 36. The philosophie Nihilist is convinced that all phenomena are without sense and are in vain, and that there ought to be no such thing as Being without sense and in vain. But whence comes this "There ought not to be?"--whence this "sense" and _this standard_? At bottom the Nihilist supposes that the sight of such a desolate, useless Being is _unsatisfying_ to the philosopher, and fills him with desolation and despair. This aspect of the case is opposed to our subtle sensibilities as a philosopher. It leads to the absurd conclusion that the character of existence _must perforce afford pleasure to the philosopher_ if it is to have any right to subsist.