The key concepts in the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) connect it to Ancient Stoicism and existentialism. Let us pass review to those concepts, which Schopenhauer first outlined in “The world as will and representation,” a book that he published in 1818. Schopenhauer built his philosophy around the theory of the will (“life force”). He…

Despite his extensive writings, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) produced a rather limited set of ideas. His philosophical system revolves around the theory of the will (“life force”) that he regarded as the prime mover of all living entities. Let’s review Schopenhauer’s main ideas. First and foremost, Schopenhauer rebelled against the ideas of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Friedrich…

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) never wrote any novels and deeply disliked those written by his mother, Johanna. She had attained notoriety by her romantic novels and reciprocated his son’s literary dislike by calling his essays uninteresting. However, the novels written by Johanna Schopenhauer were quickly forgotten, while Arthur Schopenhauer’s works attracted growing interest. Eventually, his ideas…

History provides excellent examples of the philosophy put forward by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860). I can point for instance to the life of Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) who had favoured living in accordance with nature. Aurelius’ recipe for happiness is understanding the order of the universe and aligning our actions with it; however, when he talked…

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) had no problem accepting that he was eccentric. In fact, he considered it a privilege to be categorised as an eccentric. He considered it a confirmation of the originality of his ideas. Schopenhauer’s key contribution to philosophy is the theory of the will, that is, the belief that the will (“life force”)…

I can summarise in one sentence the philosophy of life put forward by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860); my summary is the following: “Unless you make steady efforts to improve and protect yourself, chances are that bad luck will wipe you out.” Mainstream philosophers call Schopenhauer a pessimist and consider his work uninteresting. They argue that Schopenhauer…

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…

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…

Considering the rather miserable life of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), it is fair to ask why he grew apart from the ideas presented by Schopenhauer (1788-1860), instead of endorsing them and building them further. I must start by saying that the differences in personality and motivation between Schopenhauer and Nietzsche developed in a period of thirty…

There is substantial overlapping between the philosophies of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). The main reason for their similarities is that both men were dissatisfied with the Enlightenment ideas (from Kant and other thinkers) that dominated European universities. Schopenhauer and Nietzsche were not the only ones to feel discontented, but they expressed their…