An Introduction to Arthur Schopenhauer

 Arthur Schopenhauer, often regarded as the world's most pessimistic philosopher, was born in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). His father, a wealthy merchant, intended for him to pursue a business career and allowed him to travel across Europe in 1803-1804. These experiences broadened Schopenhauer’s worldview, but after his father’s death, he chose philosophy over commerce. In 1809, he enrolled at the University of Göttingen, initially studying medicine before shifting to philosophy. He was deeply influenced by Plato and Kant, whom he considered the greatest philosopher of the past two thousand years, but he strongly disliked contemporaries like Fichte, Schleiermacher, and especially Hegel.

His early philosophical work, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason (1813), earned him a doctorate from the University of Jena but failed to gain widespread recognition. His personal life was marked by isolation and conflict, particularly his strained relationship with his mother, Johanna Schopenhauer, a successful novelist and socialite. Their opposing values—Johanna’s love for fame and social life versus Arthur’s introverted and critical nature—led to frequent clashes. By 1814, their relationship had soured completely, and Schopenhauer severed ties with her. This troubled dynamic contributed to his misanthropy and bleak view of human nature.

Schopenhauer never married and distrusted romantic relationships, believing they were driven by biological instincts rather than genuine affection. He criticized marriage as a societal construct designed for reproduction rather than personal fulfillment. Preferring solitude, he avoided social obligations and found companionship in his poodles, all of whom he named “Atman,” a term from Indian philosophy meaning “soul.” He admired animals for their simplicity and lack of deceit, considering them preferable to human interactions. His misanthropy extended beyond personal relationships; he had adversarial interactions with colleagues and despised societal norms, leading him to live a largely isolated life dedicated to reading, writing, and contemplation.

In 1818, Schopenhauer completed his magnum opus, The World as Will and Idea, in Dresden. The book was heavily influenced by Indian philosophy, particularly the Upanishads, which he called “the solace of my life.” However, it initially received little attention. In 1820, he returned to Berlin, attempting to rival Hegel by scheduling his lectures at the same time. This backfired, as his classrooms remained nearly empty while Hegel's were filled, leading him to abandon academia. Disillusioned, he spent years traveling before settling in Frankfurt am Main in 1833, focusing entirely on his intellectual pursuits.

Despite early obscurity, Schopenhauer's philosophy gained traction in the 1840s and 1850s. His works, including On the Will in Nature (1836) and The Two Main Problems in Ethics (1841), began to attract attention. The failed European revolutions of 1848 created a climate of disillusionment, making his pessimistic worldview increasingly relevant. His 1851 collection, Parerga and Paralipomena, became a success, cementing his reputation. By the 1850s, scholars began lecturing on his ideas. He revised The World as Will and Idea in 1859 before passing away in 1860, finally acknowledged as one of history’s great philosophers. His philosophy emphasized suffering, the influence of Indian thought, aesthetic contemplation as an escape from pain, and asceticism as a means to overcome life’s inherent suffering.