(Latin: melior, better)
A philosophic theory which holds that though things in the world are bad they can be improved, and that man can find some satisfiaction in laboring to increase the happiness of his fellow men. This theory occupies an intermediate position between the extreme Optimism of Leibnitz and the extreme Pessimism of Schopenhauer. It was first propounded by Sully and George Eliot and naturally finds support among the adherents of the pragmatic movement in philosophy.