The following year, his older brother, Daniel Batz, committed suicide, cementing the family history of succumbing to mental illness.

[9] In 1858, Philipp was employed in a trading house in Naples, Italy, where he learned Italian and acquainted himself with the works of Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, and – most notably – Leopardi.

Magnus in Berlin with the declared goal of amassing a small fortune within a few years and then leading a decent life from the interest earnings.

On 6 April 1874, Mainländer, already 32 years old, submitted a request directly to the emperor Wilhelm I of Germany which was granted; this resulted in his appointment to the Cuirassiers in Halberstadt, beginning 28 September.

Completely clear, consistent, and well-rounded was my system in my mind, and a creative frenzy revived me that did not need the whip of the thought that I must be finished by 28 September; for on 1 October I had to put on the king's coat - this date could not be postponed.

The author composed a letter to the as yet unknown publisher, requesting the omission of his birth name and substitution of the pen name "Philipp Mainländer", and stating that he would abhor nothing more than "being exposed to the eyes of the world".

[2]: 202  The goals he set for himself and for his system are reminiscent of ancient Greek philosophy: what is the relation between the undivided existence of the "One" and the everchanging world of becoming that we experience.

By recognizing death as salvation and by giving nothingness an absolute quality, Mainländer's system manages to offer "wider" means for redemption.

[18][19][20]: 121  Lucien Arréat expressed that many pages feel warm due to the "generosity of his soul", and as a more general characterization that "Mainländer had a delicate and sincere nature, a truly remarkable individuality.

[19]Frederick C. Beiser also notes "Mainländer's humanity": "He had the deepest sympathy for the suffering of the common man and much of his thinking was preoccupied with the poverty of the mass of people and the workers.

[21] Central to Mainländer's activism is the belief that a truly pessimistic ethics must advocate for the dismantling of social and political structures that perpetuate inequality and suffering.

He argues that the pursuit of social and political equality is a natural extension of the compassion that arises from recognizing existence as fundamentally evil.

Mainländer envisions a political landscape where communal ownership and collective responsibility replace individualistic pursuits, thereby fostering an environment conducive to the renunciation of the will to life.

This liberation is crucial for both men and women to gain autonomy over their bodies and lives, allowing and empowering them to pursue the path of contemplation, asceticism, chastity, and ultimately, the renunciation of being through suicide.

[22]: 241  Mainländer views suicide not as an act of despair but as a rational choice that can alleviate suffering and serve as a profound expression of ethical virtue when approached with a clear understanding of the nature of existence.

[22]: 236 In his view, communism serves as a vehicle for achieving social and economic equality, allowing individuals to transcend the selfish impulses inherent in the will to survive.

By eliminating class distinctions and ensuring equal access to education and resources, Mainländer believes that society can cultivate a collective commitment to alleviating suffering.

[22]: 235–243 For Mainländer, such a communist state represents the penultimate step of the will to death's metanarrative, where the satiation of all human desires leads to an understanding of the vanity and emptiness of existence (specifically, that the pleasures this satiation brings does not outweigh the negative value of existence), thus beginning a movement towards the extinction of humanity (and eventually of all matter in the universe).

Letters written to his sister, Minna Batz, imply that there was an indecision on his behalf as to whether suicide would be beneficial, or if he could work as a political leader in the Social Democratic Movement taking place within Germany at the time, in an effort to aid in accelerating society towards the aforementioned "final state."

In a letter to his sister, he writes:[24]If I am not to seek death with pleasure, after this fruit has ripened, lacking any motive, I must enter into the realm of social democracy, which will allow me to become exhausted and dazed, so as not to listen to the seductive voices of this longing for absolute rest, and to achieve redemption forever.

[25] Despite this, Mainländer wrote that he would seek political activism without her blessing, and yet was found dead by hanging within a short period of time, proving that he had gone back on his original decision.

[29][30] Nietzsche also mentions in one of his letters that he met an adherent of Mainländer's philosophy, "a quiet and modest man, a Buddhist [...], passionate vegetarian.

[41] More recently, a number of contemporary pessimists, like Drew Dalton, have drawn from the work of Mainländer in the hopes of developing new models for ethical and political action.

[42][43] The communist thinker Slavoj Žižek remarked: "Today, in a society in which the striving for pleasure and happiness fully displays their self-destructive potential, only figures like Mainländer can save us.