Even for a genius like Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), it’s far from self-evident to define success; the feeling of achievement will wane fairly quickly if people are admiring you for reasons that have little to do with your life’s purpose.
Schopenhauer started to experience success in 1830. He was already forty-two years old and had spent decades in obscurity, despite his remarkable work.
As of 1830, universities and other institutions started to invite Schopenhauer to give lectures, and journalists published some favourable articles about him. The articles did not clearly describe his philosophy, but at least, they made people curious.
Unfortunately, the truth is that, by 1830, only a few hundred people had read Schopenhauer’s masterpiece. I am referring to his book “The world as will and representation.”
The popularity of Schopenhauer’s lectures
Schopenhauer had first published “The world as will and representation” in 1818, and revised and expanded it in 1828. He had mailed dozens of copies of the book to newspapers and magazines, asking them to review it, but few had done so.
The demand for his lectures had convinced Schopenhauer that people were interested in his philosophy. He should have asked himself why they were not buying his books, but I guess that he was too proud to face the facts.
If he had asked himself that question, he would have come to the realization that people attended his lectures because they viewed him as a rarity. They felt attracted by the novelty effect, not because of a genuine interest in Schopenhauer’s ideas.
Schopenhauer felt prey to the delusion of success, and tried to figure out how to get people to read his books; he concluded that the size of his work “The world as will and representation” was too intimidating.
Schopenhauer’s focus on writing essays
“If I publish shorter books, maybe I can get people to read them,” he thought. For this reason, he wrote the essay “On the will in nature,” which he published in 1832.
This essay is adding very little to “The world as will and representation.” It provides an outline of Schopenhauer’s ideas, drawing examples from history and biology. The book attained moderate sales, but many newspaper reviews.
Schopenhauer’s emerging popularity failed to translate into increased revenue. The earnings from his books barely covered their typesetting and printing costs, and the fees for his lectures barely covered Schopenhauer’s travel and hotel costs.
Although Schopenhauer was reluctant to admit it, his newly found fame had become a money-losing operation; he received invitations for high-society dinners requiring elegant clothes, for which he had to bear the cost; he wasted hours in small talk with people who had no real interest in his ideas.
Schopenhauer’s ideas met with indifference
In 1833, Schopenhauer gave another series of lectures at the University of Berlin, enjoying a full attendance. Nevertheless, he failed to make any friends amongst tenured professors at the Faculty of Philosophy. They viewed him as an outsider and did not take his ideas seriously.
Schopenhauer lamented that, despite the popularity of his lectures, influential people remained unwilling to endorse him. In retrospective, it is not difficult to understand why. His books were not aligned with mainstream philosophy and painted it in unfavourable terms.
When he was not giving lectures or participating in events, Schopenhauer took long walks or retired to his rented rooms to devote himself to writing or playing classical music. He played mostly the flute, which is the ideal instrument for someone that changes his place of residence often.
Schopenhauer is confronted with mortality
Despite his modest income, Schopenhauer kept a small dog, a poodle, which he had named Atman. He took the poodle with him every time he changed his living quarters, either locally or to another German-speaking city.
The poodle’s name is unusual. Schopenhauer had decided to call it “Atman,” which is the word for “soul” in Buddhism. I’m sure that most dog owners love to think that their dog is special and possesses a soul, but an animal is just an animal.
Atman died in 1835, and its death made Schopenhauer even more aware of the ephemeral nature of existence. A year later, he published the essay “On death,” which is reminiscent of the epistles of the ancient Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca.
Why Schopenhauer’s fame proved disappointing
As of 1838, Schopenhauer continued his strategy of writing essays or short books. He hoped that one of them would attain best-seller status, but his efforts were to no avail.
In addition to giving lectures, Schopenhauer participated in some debates, but sadly, those resembled today’s talk-shows in which serious intellectual discussion seldom takes place.
All in all, those experiences left Schopenhauer with a bitter taste; he was deploying massive efforts to convey his ideas, but failed to find a fertile terrain where they could take root.
I will continue Schopenhauer’s biography in my next article. If you are interested in applying rational ideas to your own life, I recommend you my book titled “Asymmetry: The shortcut to success when success seems impossible.”
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Schopenhauer’s biography (1 of 5): The first turning point
Schopenhauer’s biography (2 of 5): the path to the theory of the will
Schopenhauer’s biography (3 of 5): the struggling decade