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This book discusses two general theories of human consciousness. The methodology, interdisciplinary and "history of ideas"-oriented, concentrates on two opposing theories, one humanistic and the other scientific. Leibniz's optimistic claim in the seventeenth century that this world was the best of all possible worlds is posed against nineteenth century Schopenhauer who argued pessimistically that it was the worst and that it was best not to survive. Against this background the book compares the current danger of a civil war in the United States of America as patterned along the same lines that engulfed the former Yugoslavia, thus demonstrating the insidious roots of that evil and its destructive engulfment and power. Ultimately, it questions whether these same dynamic forces are leading today's world to annihilation as countries threaten each other with nuclear arms and the age of pessimism has become entrenched.