Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) regarded intellectual and cultural pursuits as potentially detrimental; he recommended to steer away from pursuits that generate unworkable desires and ambitions. Before investing oneself in those, one should figure out the consequences.
Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual pursuits are innovative and surprising. Schopenhauer is contradicting the opinions of philosophers from previous centuries. Never before in history had a Western thinker held intellectual pursuits in a such a low regard.
Aristotle (384-322 BC) must have turned in his grave when learning about Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual pursuits. I share Aristotle’s profound appreciation for intellectual pursuits, and this is why I want to clarify here Schopenhauer’s views on this matter.
For Aristotle, it was highly desirable to devote oneself to all sorts of intellectual inquiry. He regarded reason (defined as the ability to employ logic) as a uniquely human characteristic. It’s in your interest to exert your logical ability every single day.
The context of Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual pursuits
Aristotle didn’t perceive any danger in the exercise of logic, or in the pursuit of knowledge. In his “Nicomachean Ethics,” he rates those elements as essential for human flourishing, that is, essential for human happiness.
Schopenhauer discarded Aristotle’s views on this matter. He found that Aristotle was overlooking the risk inherent in wrong or worthless knowledge.
“The world as will and representation” (1818) and “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851) contain Schopenhauer’s warnings in this area: intellectual pursuits that raise one’s self-awareness and self-reliance are beneficial; on the other hand, those that increase dissatisfaction and frustration should be avoided.
Schopenhauer disagreed with Aristotle’s unreserved love for intellectual pursuits. He rejected Aristotle’s blanket praise for research and learning. Aristotle was wrong, he argued, because intellectual pursuits are just tools for achieving an objective. If the objective is detrimental, so are the intellectual pursuits.
Schopenhauer’s warnings against certain intellectual pursuits
For Schopenhauer, all living creatures are driven by the will (“life force”); the will pushes them to ensure their reproduction and survival, and to seek pleasure without considering the cost and risks involved.
Happiness requires counteracting the will. Schopenhauer is giving recommendations in “Parerga and Paralipomena.” He is warning readers against the short-term thinking imposed by the will, and calling them to develop prudence and foresight.
Aristotle had implicitly accepted that humans can choose to think or not to think. They can freely decide to exercise reason or not. Schopenhauer goes a step back because he assumes that humans are routinely choosing not to think.
Unless people grow self-aware, argues Schopenhauer, they are going to be controlled by the will. Unless they adopt strong measures to counteract the will, they are going to focus on the short term and suffer the long-term consequences.
The logic behind Schopenhauer’s views on intellectual pursuits
Schopenhauer doesn’t contest that humans have the capacity to think rationally, but points out that reason is not automatic. I recall that Aristotle said that “all men naturally desire to learn.” Schopenhauer would have reworded it as “few men make the effort to learn how to improve their lives.”
Who is right in this respect, Schopenhauer or Aristotle? Do intellectual pursuits help humans attain their highest potential, or do they erect obstacles that block the path to happiness? In this particular matter, Schopenhauer holds the upper hand due to his realistic grasp of human nature.
Aristotle had distinguished between theoretical, productive, and practical knowledge. We can define theoretical knowledge as science, productive knowledge as technology, and practical knowledge as wisdom. All three types are worth pursuing, said Aristotle, because they contribute to happiness.
You won’t find any “worthless knowledge” or “detrimental knowledge” in Aristotle’s categorization. Schopenhauer created a fourth category of knowledge and intellectual pursuits, which he defined according to its relation to the will.
Schopenhauer and the consequences of intellectual pursuits
Detrimental intellectual pursuits are those that magnify the suffering naturally generated by the will. Instead of enhancing happiness, those pursuits render people miserable, ineffective, and weak.
When Aristotle spoke about “intellectual pursuits,” he was referring to knowledge that enhances virtue and happiness. He was not referring to trashy shop operas, mindless talk shows, or gurus that preach mysticism.
I agree with Schopenhauer that those “intellectual pursuits” only generate confusion and disorientation. Instead of creating order, they enhance the chaos generated by the will. Instead of clarity and motivation, they lead to obfuscation and stagnation.
No wonder that Schopenhauer was sceptical of education in general; he favoured self-awareness, critical thinking skills and self-reliance, but warned against rote memorization; he praised rational inquiry, but warned against blind conformity.
Aristotle believed that reason is the essence of human life. I draw from Schopenhauer’s works the need to reformulate this idea. We should rather say that the essence of human life is not reason, but the potential to use reason, and that it is up to each person to actualize that potential.
If you are interested in applying rational ideas to problem solving here and now, I recommend you my book “Rational living, rational working.”
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