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Schopenhauer’s pessimism: what it is and what it’s not
According to most philosophy books, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was profoundly pessimistic. However, when you look into the details of his life and his works, you will see that the truth goes in the opposite direction. Historians tell us that Schopenhauer was confronted with a series of personal tragedies that rendered him pessimistic, but is this…
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Critique of Schopenhauer’s philosophy of history
Posterity showed vast disagreements with the philosophy of history put forward by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). His individualist view of society came to be rejected by Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) in the first place. Schopenhauer had argued that the will (“life force”) exerts a large influence on individual and society choices, but not to the extent of…
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Schopenhauer and the philosophy of history
The philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) places history on a secondary plane. Schopenhauer didn’t give history a central role because he did not consider that humanity should achieve any goal beyond the happiness of the individual. Schopenhauer believed that an eternal life force (“the will”) drives all creatures towards self-preservation and reproduction, but the influence…
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Schopenhauer and the philosophy of time
The reflections of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) are to be found in his work “The world as will and representation.” I consider equally interesting the observations contained in his “Aphorisms on the art of living,” published in 1851. In contrast to Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Schopenhauer is not a philosopher of history. He didn’t develop an all-inclusive…
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Individuality and determinism in Schopenhauer
You do not need to search long to find philosophers that rate Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) as the ultimate advocate of determinism. Nonetheless, they are wrong; their categorization of Schopenhauer as deterministic is superficial and overlooks a large number of key aspects in Schopenhauer’s philosophy. When analysing a philosopher, one must place his ideas at a…
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Schopenhauer on determinism
It’s not correct to say that Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) embraced a form of metaphysical determinism. His philosophy rests on the assumption that the will (which I translate as “life force”) influences all events, but there is a substantial distance between influencing and determining. The difference between influence and determinism has large consequences. I am not…
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Impact of the comparison between Schopenhauer and Hegel
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) expressed his dislike of Hegel’s philosophy at every opportunity. In fact, Schopenhauer devoted a good part of his key work “The world as will and representation” to opposing Hegelian ideas. Schopenhauer viewed Hegel (1770-1831) as an intellectual charlatan, and described Hegel’s ideas as too complicated and devoid of substance. In addition, Schopenhauer…
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Comparison of Schopenhauer and Hegel
Seldom has the world seen such a deep, perennial animosity between philosophers as the one that existed between Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). While Hegel basically ignored Schopenhauer, the latter was delighted when he read in the news that Hegel had died. “If he had died earlier,” commented Schopenhauer, “the world would have…
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Critique of Schopenhauer’s philosophy of perception
The theory of perception is one of the weakest aspects in the philosophy developed by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). It consolidates in one point all errors in Schopenhauer’s ideas. It’s so poorly reasoned that it may prevent us from appreciating the good parts of Schopenhauer’s philosophy. What is wrong with Schopenhauer’s theory of perception? I raise…
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Schopenhauer and the philosophy of perception
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) developed an advanced theory of perception, representation and conceptualization. His philosophy revolves around the will as the fundamental driving force in existence. Schopenhauer’s understanding of perception is rooted in the subjective experience of each person. Schopenhauer does not view perception as a passive mirror. It’s not an automatic, objective reflection of an…
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