ARTHUR SCHOPEHAUER

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Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788–1860)

 

German Philosopher of Pessimism and the Will

 

🔹 Background:

 

• Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), raised in a wealthy merchant family.

• Influenced by Plato, Kant, Eastern philosophy (especially Buddhism and Hinduism).

 

🔹 Key Ideas:

 

1. The Will as the Thing-in-Itself:

    

   • For Schopenhauer, the fundamental reality behind everything is not reason or God, but a blind, irrational force he calls Will.

   • The Will drives all existence — from human desire to natural processes.

2. Pessimism:

    

   • Life is filled with suffering because desire (driven by the Will) is never fully satisfied.

   • Happiness is just the absence of pain, not a lasting state.

3. Aesthetic Escape:

    

   • Art, especially music, offers a temporary escape from the suffering of the world.

   • In moments of artistic contemplation, we are briefly freed from the Will.

4. Compassion and Ethics:

    

   • Morality comes from Mitleid (compassion), not from duty or rules.

   • Seeing oneself in others leads to kindness and ethical behavior.

5. Influence of Eastern Thought:

    

   • Schopenhauer admired Buddhism’s notion of detachment and Nirvana.

   • He believed denying the Will was the path to inner peace — similar to Buddhist enlightenment.

 

🔹 Legacy:

 

• Largely ignored in his early career, Schopenhauer later influenced thinkers like Nietzsche, Freud, Wagner, and Tolstoy.

• Considered a bridge between classical German philosophy and existentialism.

 

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