Thomas Ligotti

The Conspiracy against the Human Race is renowned horror writer Thomas Ligotti's first work of nonfiction. Through impressively wide-ranging discussions of and reflections on literary and philosophical works of a pessimistic bent, he shows that the greatest horrors are inherent both to the human situation and to reality itself, and are not the products of our imagination.

A Contrivance of Horror

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race

Özgür Özer

I don’t know how to put this book into words that can encapsulate how I feel. Non fiction horror, Thomas Ligotti has written an incredibly dense and powerful book for the darkest corners of philosophy. 

As a newcomer into the philosophy genre the ideals of pessimism, nihilism etc really interest me and this book gave me such a deep look into the founders of these ideals. 

A lonely dense piece of work that somehow made me feel less lonely for thinking a certain way. 

jaz ☁️

I don’t know how to put this book into words that can encapsulate how I feel. Non fiction horror, Thomas Ligotti has written an incredibly dense and powerful book for the darkest corners of philosophy. 

As a newcomer into the philosophy genre the ideals of pessimism, nihilism etc really interest me and this book gave me such a deep look into the founders of these ideals. 

A lonely dense piece of work that somehow made me feel less lonely for thinking a certain way. 

5 stars. 

Lily

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race dwells on the question: "Is life worth living?", and the answer is a resounding and flagrant "no". It is worth noting that this book does not aim to convince you of this; rather, it is a book written for those who already believe that existence is obscene. If you want a less literary and more in-deep philosophical examination of such bleak views, seek Schopenhauer. Ligotti's work here is, undoubtedly, more of a literary indulgence for the previously initiated.

I have been what Ligotti describes as a pessimist for almost all of my adult life, but I was curiously unaware of its philosophical foundations beyond Schopenhauer [although it seems I have also been spared from the harrowing despair which the writer inevitably ascribes to pessimists and relays at length in this book, so what do I know], so it is only fair to extend my gratitude to Ligotti for introducing me to the works of Zapffe and Mainländer. The Conspiracy Against the Human Race is a very well-written book with a slick and beautiful prose. My only gripe with it is that it gets repetitive and pushy at times; as if Ligotti wants to hammer a certain idea into the reader's head by repeating it over and over and over, every time using a newer, flashier turn of phrase. I was mostly fascinated by the connections between pessimist philosophy and horror in general [the main reason I picked it up], so I will forgive the [at times] over-the-top dramatizations and recurring themes. Recommended to those interested in the horrors of philosophy.

Nathan

In Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction outing, an examination of the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life through an insightful, unsparing argument that proves the greatest horrors are not the products of our imagination but instead are found in reality. "There is a signature motif discernible in both works of philosophical pessimism and supernatural horror. It may be stated thus: Behind the scenes of life lurks something pernicious that makes a nightmare of our world." His fiction is known to be some of the most terrifying in the genre of supernatural horror, but Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction book may be even scarier. Drawing on philosophy, literature, neuroscience, and other fields of study, Ligotti takes the penetrating lens of his imagination and turns it on his audience, causing them to grapple with the brutal reality that they are living a meaningless nightmare, and anyone who feels otherwise is simply acting out an optimistic fallacy. At once a guidebook to pessimistic thought and a relentless critique of humanity's employment of self-deception to cope with the pervasive suffering of their existence, The Conspiracy against the Human Race may just convince readers that there is more than a measure of truth in the despairing yet unexpectedly liberating negativity that is widely considered a hallmark of Ligotti's work.

The Conspiracy Against the Human Race A Contrivance of Horror

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