About

“We do not rush toward death, we flee the catastrophe of birth” 

 Emil Cioran

My name is Fernando Olszewski. These essays represent my reflections on different topics. About me: I have a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), a master's degree in philosophy from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of North Dakota (UND). My master's research, supervised by Professor Regina Schöpke, was on how Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and Emil Cioran (1911-1995) used anti-cosmic religions to support their rejection of the world. This research resulted in my master's dissertation, titled: Pessimism and Gnosis: Schopenhauer, Cioran and the appropriation of anticosmic religions (in Portuguese: Pessimismo e Gnose: Schopenhauer, Cioran e a apropriação das religiões anticósmicas, available at UERJ's online library of dissertations and theses). Previously, I researched the pessimistic thinking about history and existence found in Cioran's work, supervised by UNIRIO professor Rossano Pecoraro.