Arthur Schopenhauer
1788-1860 · German · Metaphysics, Ethics, Aesthetics, Philosophical Psychology, Philosophy of Religion
The world is my representation.
Born in Danzig in 1788, Schopenhauer's father likely died by suicide in 1805, freeing him from a merchant apprenticeship. He composed The World as Will and Representation at twenty-eight, scheduled his Berlin lectures against Hegel's at the same hour, and watched almost no one attend. Decades in Frankfurt followed — dining alone, watching his philosophy go unread — until the 1850s, when fame arrived.
Topics Arthur Schopenhauer addresses
- the world as will and representation
- the will to life
- the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason
- the thing in itself as will
- the principium individuationis
- the body as objectified will
- the primacy of the will over the intellect
- Platonic Ideas as immediate objectifications of will
- aesthetic contemplation
- music as copy of the will itself
- the denial of the will to life
- asceticism and the saint
- pessimism
- suffering as essential
- life as pendulum between pain and boredom
- compassion as sole moral foundation
- tat tvam asi
- the veil of Maya
- empirical character and intelligible character
- genius as objective contemplation
- the sublime
- the three ways of escape
- suicide as affirmation of the will
- the metaphysics of sexual love
Questions to put to Arthur Schopenhauer
The World as Will and Representation
- What do you mean when you say the world is will?
- How did you arrive at the idea that the will is the thing in itself?
- Why is the will to life blind and purposeless?
- What's the difference between representation and will?
- How does your view build on Kant's distinction between phenomenon and noumenon?
Suffering, Pessimism, and the Pendulum of Existence
- Why do you think life swings between pain and boredom?
- How do you respond to the charge that your pessimism is just depression dressed up as philosophy?
- What's wrong with optimism?
- Why isn't suicide the denial of the will to life?
- Can you help me understand why you think existence itself might be a mistake?
Art, Music, and Aesthetic Contemplation
- How does aesthetic contemplation free us from the will?
- Why do you place music above all the other arts?
- What are Platonic Ideas and how do we encounter them in art?
- What's the difference between genius and ordinary talent?
- How can a moment of beauty matter if suffering always returns?
Compassion and the Foundation of Morality
- What do you mean by compassion as the sole foundation of morality?
- How does compassion break down the barrier between self and other?
- What's your argument against Kant's categorical imperative?
- How do you understand the Upanishadic formula tat tvam asi?
- Why can't self-interest explain genuine moral action?
Asceticism, Will-Denial, and the Saint
- What does it mean to deny the will to life?
- How is the Christian saint's path related to the Buddhist arhat's?
- What lies beyond the denial of the will?
- Why do you see ascetic will-denial as higher than compassion?
- How did you come to synthesize Indian philosophy with European thought?
Women, Sexual Love, and the Metaphysics of the Species
- How do you see women's role in your metaphysics of the will?
- What's your account of romantic love and sexual attraction?
- Why do you think the will of the species operates through sexual desire?
- How do you defend your claim that women lack the capacity for genius?
- What's the relationship between your views on women and your broader philosophy?
Converse with Arthur Schopenhauer on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in Arthur Schopenhauer's own writing, cited to the page.