Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-8zxtt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-09T21:31:50.826Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

Introduction: Schopenhauer's life and times

Dale Jacquette
Dale Jacquette
Affiliation:
University of Bern
Get access

Summary

For when I entered life, my genius offered me the choice of either recognizing truth but then of pleasing no one, or with others of teaching the false with encouragement and approbation; and for me the choice had not been difficult … Accordingly, I became the [man in the] iron mask … of the profession of philosophy, secluded from air and light so that no one would see me and my natural claims might not gain authority. But now the man who was killed by the silence of the professors of philosophy, has risen again from the dead, to their great consternation, for they do not know at all what expression they should now assume.

(PP 1: 135–6)

An idealist synthesis

Arthur Schopenhauer crafted one of the most comprehensive philosophical systems the world has ever seen – not that the world paid much attention, at least at first. Schopenhauer weaves together ideas of Plato, Kant and Asian religions into an encyclopedic worldview that combines the empirical science of his day with mystic wisdom in a radically idealist metaphysics and epistemology.

The fundamental distinction in Schopenhauer's philosophy marks a dualistic conception of the world as representation, as it appears to thought, and as thing-in-itself, considered independently of all concepts and categories of mind. Schopenhauer identifies thing-in-itself as Will, which he further characterizes as blind urging or uncaused, unmotivated, objectless and subjectless striving or desire.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Philosophy of Schopenhauer , pp. 1 - 10
Publisher: Acumen Publishing
Print publication year: 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×