Schopenhauer

Full Name: Arthur Schopenhauer

Achievements: Major “irrationalist” philosopher

Born: February 22, 1788; Danzig, Prussia (now Gdansk, Poland)

Died: September 21, 1860; Frankfurt am Main, Germany (Aged 72)

Field & Discipline: Philosophy

Language: German

Father: Heinrich Floris Schopenhauer

Mother: Johanna

 Siblings: Adele

 Spouse: None

 Children: None

Education: Private schools; University of Gottingen, Germany; University of Berlin; Jena University, Germany

Major Work:

"The World as Will and Idea"

Life & Times:

When Schopenhauer was 15 his family to Weimar, where his widowed mother became part of a circle of academics and artists who gathered around [collaborated with] Goethe*. 

Schopenhauer went to schools in Gotha and Weimar and in 1809 entered the medical faculty at Gottingen University.  He studied natural sciences in his first year and moved to the philosophy faculty in his second.  Here, he studied [influenced by] Plato* and [influenced by] Kant*, both of whom influenced him greatly,  and read widely in German, French and English as well as Latin and Greek. 

Deciding to be a philosopher, Schopenhauer transferred to Berlin University because [unimpressed by] Fichte*, then the most prominent name in German philosophy, was lecturing there.  Schopenhauer was not impressed by Fichte and began developing his own theories.  In 1813, he went to the country village of Rudolstadt and wrote his thesis: "The Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason" for his doctorate in philosophy from Jena University.

Back in Weimar in the winter of 1813-14, Schopenhauer was introduced to Hinduism and Buddhism by  a friend who was also a follower of [influenced by] Herder*.  Schopenhauer was profoundly moved by the Upanishads, the ancient philosophic texts of the Hindus, and continued to read them all his life. 

He called them "the consolation of my life.” At the same time his acquaintanceship with Goethe developed into a close friendship.   Goethe felt his own  “Theory of Color" was similar to Schopenhauer's thesis, and they worked together on optical theories and experiments at Goethe's house.  In 1814, Schopenhauer quarreled with his mother and left Weimar for Dresden.

Between 1814 and 1817, Schopenhauer wrote his major work, "The World as Will and Idea,” which was published in November, 1818.  Schopenhauer expounded his system in four books, which covered the theory of knowledge and the philosophy of nature, esthetics and ethics. 

He reiterated Kant’s theory that concepts such as space, time, and causality, which we use to explain the world, are not immutable truths, but only the constructs of human cognitive processes.   According to Schopenhauer, these constructs can only lead to knowledge of the various ways in which the world functions, not to knowledge of the whole world itself.

In the second book, Schopenhauer concluded that only in the study of ourselves can we gain knowledge: from observation of our own body and from our own instincts, which we cannot see but can experience, as will. 

To Schopenhauer, instinct, or the will, is the primary force, which is immutable.  Will is apparent in the external world in the forces of inorganic nature, in the behavior of plants and animals, and finally in human reason.  He described the continual human struggle to achieve the higher forms of will against its lower,  animal instincts, where passion is unmitigated by reason. This struggle, he said, causes mankind to suffer.

In the final two books, Schopenhauer stated that overcoming will can liberate. But he said only two exceptional types of person,  the genius and the saint, can achieve this: the genius, through achieving artistic heights, can overcome primary passions, negate will, become ego-less, and thus attain genuine liberation;  saints can negate will and become ego-less through acts of compassion, empathy and sacrifice.

Deciding his ideas were best spread through lectures, Schopenhauer took a  post at Berlin University.  Deliberately, he scheduled his lectures to coincide with those by philosopher [opposed views of] Hegel*, a classical idealist who believed that the concepts humans construct are the prime route to knowledge of the world.  Schopenhauer considered Hegel's philosophy a betrayal of the Kant inheritance. 

Schopenhauer spent the next three years traveling in Italy, Switzerland and Germany, staying in Munich for a year when he was unwell.  In 1825, he took up his post again in Berlin, where he remained for the next six years, increasingly disappointed by the lack of interest in his philosophy. 

In 1831, Schopenhauer fled to Frankfurt to escape a cholera epidemic. (He was always nervous about disease).  On medical advice, he spent a year in Mannheim before going back to Frankfurt, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Schopenhauer lived in two furnished rooms overlooking the river Main and followed a strict regimen.  After a cold bath and a cup of coffee, he wrote till midday, then played the flute.  Until the year he died, he dressed in a tailcoat and white tie.  He lunched at the same hotel every day and after lunch, he read in his rooms before taking a two-hour walk,

ending up in the library at 6 pm to read The London Times.  At night he went either to a concert or the theater, then had supper at the same hotel.

In 1836, Schopenhauer published a short volume, "On the Will of Nature,” in which he cited developments in natural science to support his theory of the will.  In 1851, he published "Minor Works" ("Parerga") and "Fragments" ("Paralipomena").  He also wrote essays and commentaries on subjects such as education, style, and the history of philosophy. 

His celebrated treatise "Uber die Universitats-philsophie" was published in this period, as was his essay on "Ghost-seeing and Its Related Aspects,” the first academic examination of parapsychology.

In one of only 10 issues edited by the novelist [review edited by] George Eliot*, Britain's "Westminster Review" published an unsigned favorable article on Schopenhauer.  The article was translated and widely read in Germany. 

In 1854, the Danish philosopher [known to] Kierkegaard* remarked in his diary that journalists and gossips were all talking about Schopenhauer.  In the same year, composer

[a fan was] Wagner* sent him a copy of the "Ring of Nibelung" to show his

admiration. 

In 1856, Leipzig University offered a prize for the best exposition of his system.  In 1857, lectures were given on Schopenhauer in universities throughout Germany.  His portrait was painted and a marble bust was made of him.  Visitors from abroad came to Frankfurt to visit him. Strangers began going to the hotel where Schopenhauer dined to eavesdrop on his conversation, relishing his erudition, social views, and wit.

Extra Connections: [ideas spread by] Nietszche* spread his ideas.

He influenced [influenced] Mann*, and [influenced] Schrodinger*

Assessment: Schopenhauer's "irrationalist" ideas were in opposition to both rationalist and idealist philosophies but spread widely and influenced writers and

musicians as well as the development of existentialist philosophy and modern psychology.

Oneliner: Arthur Schopenhauer, irrationalist philosopher

Bibliography:

• Magee, Bryan, The Philosophy of Schopenhauer, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1997.
• Safranski, Rudiger, trans. Ewald Osers, Schopenhauer and The Wild Years of Philosophy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1889.