The Experience of the Tragic — the first part of the dilogy The Tragic.

It is an investigation into the nature of human fears and limitations. The book offers a perspective grounded in nihilism and pessimism on the tragic in human existence, examining it through the lens of philosophy and science. The author continues the lineage of Norwegian philosopher and mountaineer Peter Wessel Zapffe, developing and reconceptualizing his ideas through process philosophy.

The conclusion of the dilogy of The Tragic takes the study beyond the boundaries of the anthropocentric perspective. If the The Experience of the Tragic revealed the mechanisms of human suffering, then Processual Pessimism exposes the cosmological foundations of existence itself as a movement towards disintegration.
The central theme of the book is the development of cosmic pessimism, unfolding through the processual ontology of decay and the ethical conclusion that follows from the tragic condition of existence itself.

Translated from English and German into Russian

For the first time published in Russian, Ulrich Horstmann's book Das Untier, or The Monster: Outlines of an Anthropofugal Philosophy, stands as one of the sharpest and most uncomfortable German philosophical works of the late twentieth century. In his work, Horstmann systematically unfolds an anthropofugal line of thought, examining the human race, which throughout history has displayed a disturbing and obsessive tendency toward war and destruction. Through a meticulous analysis of the numerous bloody conflicts that have marked human history, the author reflects on how this destructive tendency has shaped human existence. The Monster invites readers to contemplate the essence of humanity and the moral dilemmas arising from our capacity to inflict harm. Horstmann exposes the duality of man, who is capable of both creation and destruction, as well as the social and cultural structures that allow violence and war to prevail.

The collection also includes an introductory essay by Vladislav Pedder, the translator and compiler of this volume; Horstmann's essays The Mainländer Maelstrom and The Philosophical Decomposer: What Characterizes Philipp Mainländer; as well as two interviews with Horstmann. The book concludes with Herman Tønnessen's essay "Happiness is for the Pigs: Philosophy versus Psychotherapy" from the second expanded edition of 1969 – a work that continues the tradition of Scandinavian pessimism exemplified by Peter Wessel Zapffe and represents an uncompromising attack on the philosophy of the pursuit of happiness and normalization.

Translated from English into Russian

The Conspiracy against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti is an uncompromising philosophical and essayistic manifesto that calls into question the fundamental assumption of our species.: that being alive is a good thing. Translated by Vladislav Pedder, author of the book "The Tragic Experience" and translator Peter Wessel Zapffe. His task was to create the best, complete translation of the second edition of The Conspiracy against the Human Race. The edition includes a previously untranslated preface by Ligotti. The book contains a hard, clear and reasoned corpus of thoughts about the fatal excess of consciousness, the progenitor of all horrors, about the meaninglessness of existence and how civilizational mechanisms support the "conspiracy" of self—deception. Ligotti does not hide behind euphemisms: he reveals the structure of the "I", shows it as a product of evolution, where we are just puppets, and draws conclusions that cannot be denied. The book is suitable both as an introduction to modern pessimism and as an incriminating text for those who are ready to reconsider the most familiar ideas about life.

Translated from Norwegian into Russian

The first volume of Peter Wessel Zapffe's fundamental work On the Tragic explores the nature of the tragic as the ontological basis of human existence. The author takes the analysis beyond aesthetic and literary categories, considering the tragic as a fundamental property of being generated by the contradiction between human aspirations and the indifference of nature.

Translated from Norwegian into Russian

In the second volume, Peter Wessel Zapffe deepens the study of the tragic, focusing on catastrophes and guilt as central trials of human existence. The author demonstrates, how the external triumphs of civilization can conceal the harbingers of decline and technical disasters, exposing the fragility of mind and spirit in the face of an indifferent reality. Through the prism of phenomenological and legal-ethical analysis, Zapffe shows that any aspiration elevated to greatness contains the germ of a fall: our choices and actions inevitably entail responsibility, which echoes with guilt and consequences. The description of the disaster does not appear as an accident, but as a multi-layered process of collision of values, external forces and fatal triggers, while the style of presentation remains strict and precise, but filled with the poetic power of images. Zapffe urges the reader to accept that every hope carries a shadow of loss, and awareness of vulnerability and one's own responsibility makes facing existential disasters an integral part of understanding the depths of tragic experience. This volume makes us think about the structural foundations of suffering and how legal and ethical frameworks help us understand the tragedy of life in the modern world.

Translated from Norwegian into Russian

The third volume of On the Tragic completes the fundamental work of Peter Wessel Zapffe.

It is entirely devoted to the analysis of the cultural and aesthetic phenomenon of the tragic. This volume focuses on the analysis of the tragic in art, theater, myth, and literary tradition, as it relates to emotional reactions and cultural context. The famous text about Job's struggle as an archetype of suffering and opposition to God appears here for the first time. The main idea of this volume is that the tragic cannot be reduced only to the "content" of the plot.

Zapffe also polemicizes with many authors, examines the modern tradition of the tragic in the person of Hegel, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and others, compares different philosophical approaches to catharsis and analyzes poetic examples (Aeschylus, the myth of Orestes, Hamlet).

Translated from English into Russian

The first volume of Reality+ explores the simulation hypothesis: could our entire universe be the result of a grandiose computational experiment? Philosopher David J. Chalmers, who developed the concept of philosophical zombies in his book The Conscious Mind, offers a new perspective on virtual worlds, taking the reader from the first arcade pixels, modern "life" simulations, to exciting simulations of the future. The boundary between the "real" and the digital dissolves in an endless stream of algorithms.This volume is an invitation to test the strength of the foundations of existence and wonder if our world is a simulation, where the movie "The Matrix" is just the tip of the iceberg.

Translated from English into Russian

The second volume of Reality+ raises the question — can the material universe itself turn out to be a product of information? Chalmers takes us through modern models of digital physics and cellular automata, showing how simple binary differences can generate surprisingly complex structures. Even if the foundation of our universe is a set of bits, properly arranged information structures create a world that feels, acts, and remains truly real. But can an ideal simulation, "created from bits", without destroying everyday realism, consist of only numbers?

Translated from English into Russian

The final volume of the Reality+ trilogy turns from questions of being to questions of morality. Having established that virtual worlds can be as real as physical ones and that matter itself may be fundamentally informational, David Chalmers addresses the consequences. Does simulated suffering carry the same moral weight as physical suffering? If everything can be simulated, what is right? Can an existence lived entirely within a digital environment be considered a fulfilling life, and what institutional forms will be needed to govern virtual communities? The volume connects theories of value with real-world challenges, also considering radical uncertainty—if the idea of Boltzmann brains is correct and our beliefs, along with our memories, could be merely a fleeting flash in an empty cosmos, the foundations for moral choice become substantially shaky and require a revision of methods for ethical reflection.

Translated from Norwegian into Russian

The first Russian edition of two key texts by Norwegian philosopher Peter Wessel Zapffe is the essay The Last

Messiah and the first - time published philosophical dialogue I Choose the Truth, written in collaboration with Herman Tønnessen. Both texts explore the contradiction of human existence, revealing the gap between biological nature and the ability to reflect. Zapffe does not offer solutions, but rather opens his eyes to the deep problems of human existence and self-knowledge.

Translated from Norwegian and English into Russian

Discover the unknown side of Peter Wessel Zapffe. For the first time in the world, three sensationally found interviews of the great Norwegian pessimist philosopher, hidden in archives for decades. Hear his lively voice: from the early thoughts about suffering that inspired Ligotti, through the "trial of life" to the poignant testament about nihilism as honesty and pessimism towards life. The collection is complemented by five in-depth articles on the connection of his ideas with Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer and Ligotti. This is not just a collection, but a breakthrough in the study of Peter Wessel Zapffe's legacy.

Translated from Norwegian into Russian

For the first time in Russian, the first complete biography of Peter Wessel Zapffe, a Norwegian pessimist philosopher, whose life is still surrounded by a halo of mystery. The author systematizes Zapffe's legacy and shows him primarily as a living person: the cruelty of his father and the early death of his sister, which influenced the formation of his pessimism, as well as difficult relationships with three women who played an important role in his fate. The book provides access to unique sources — rare diaries, letters, and archival materials, many of which are being published for the first time. This is one of the most important books for understanding not only Zapffe's philosophy, but also the tragic events from which it grew.

"Being human is the only true Hell"