Questions tagged [schopenhauer]
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher. In 1818 he wrote The World as Will and Representation.
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Did Daniel Dennet plagiarize Schopenhauer?
Compare Dennett's 3 levels of explanations for behavior of objects with Schopenhauer's 3 forms of Causality.
Dennett is talking about an approach to explain the behaviour of objects.
Explanation is in ...
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Isn't Schopenhauer a sophist?
Sophists are philosophers who reduce any philosophical attempts as either a simple rhetorical exercise or a subjective and private enterprise. Protagoras and Gorgias are seen as sophists, and their ...
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What was Schopenhauer's take on different schools of Buddhism?
It's been a while since I read Schopenhauer's masterpiece 'The World as Will and Idea', where he discussed Indian religions a lot.
I have recenlty studied the history of Buddhism somewhat in depth and ...
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Let's say Kant was right about Transcendental Idealism, what further conclusions would you come to about reality and our existence?
So here are some quotes from Schopenhauer about Kant's views:
"Transcendental is the philosophy that makes us aware of the fact that the first and essential laws of this world that are presented ...
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Problem of Affection in Kant's Thing in themselves as Causes, Neo Kantians and Post Kantians Responses
We all know "the problem of affection" raised by Schulze:
"if causality is apriori structure of the mind and exist inside the mind, how can we claim thing-in-themselves cause phenomena ...
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Interpreting this paragraph from Schopenhauer
I've read some posts here citing this very interesting paragraph (extract pasted below) from Schopenhauer, a refutation of materialism as ultimate explanation of reality:
Of all systems of philosophy ...
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About the world as representation
In "The World as Will and Representation", how can Schopenhauer say that the world is a representation if he himself EXISTS in his representation of the world? Isn't there a contradiction in ...
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Schopenhauer and the 'ability to make decisions' as a metric for free will
I've been having a less than productive discussion with someone about perspectives on free will. I feel confident in my position, but experience has taught me that my confidence is often in direct ...
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Are there any sources linking Schopenhauerian metaphysics (will as thing-in-itself) with our contemporary understanding of physics?
I'm especially interested if there are any attempts at reconciling Schopenhauer's metaphysical will with the seeming indeterministic nature of quantum physics. Thank you.
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What's the official term for interpreting an ambiguous argument into the worst possible way?
I've come across a type of argument I hear often when discussing touchier subjects. I call it "The Worst Possible Interpretation Argument".
It goes like this — I say "I agree or support ...
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Why does Schopenhauerian "Will" appear as the Representation(s) that it does?
I believe that Schopenhauer is the closest to describing true reality - at least as far as I have currently developed my thoughts. But if reality-in-itself is pure Will (or what you might call an ...
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Why did Kierkegaard disagree with Schopenhauer?
I read that towards the end of his short life Kierkegaard encountered Schopenhauer's philosophy. However, it seems that he did not really like Schopenhauer (I believe he just made a dismissive remark ...
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Is it possible to argue that the world is good from a theists perspective?
In all Abrahamic religions it is taught that everything that God does is for the good. Is it philosophically possible to argue that our universe is good without arguing from the perspective of a ...
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I can't understand Schopenhauer on space
It seems to me Schopenhauer considered space as tool by which our mind comprehends the world. And he claims the Will is outside of space and time, my question is what does this mean?
How can something ...
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Is Schopenhauer a panpsychist?
Some sources, such as Wikipedia say he is, but I have seen other people such as Bernardo Kastrup say he is pure idealist.
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Is Bohm's Implicate and Explicate order similar to Schopenhauer's Will and Representation?
Bohm considered Implicate order to be fundamental and holistic, while Explicate order was only derivative. Similarly to Schopenhauer who had his principium individuationis, and considered ...
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Does volition provide any unique insight into causality?
According to Hume, we don't see a necessary connection between cause and effect. But I'm wondering if volition (moving our bodies) is something that is of a different character than causality we see ...
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contradictio in adjecto
Arthur schopenhauer comments on Spinoza's God accordingly:
For the word God, honestly used, means a cause such as this of the world, with the addition of personality. An impersonal God is, on the ...
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Explanation of a quote from Spinoza
Notandum, dari necessario unius cujusque rei existentis certam aliquam CAUSAM, propter quam existit. Et notandum, hanc causam, propter quart aliqua res existit, vel debere contineri in ipsa natura et ...
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Schopenhauer's monism
When Schopenhauer talks about his monistic thing in itself is he talking about a 'will' that goes around destroying and wanting right?
But what about the dead stuff they can't 'will' right?
So is ...
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How can Arthur Schopenhauer explain homosexuality, if the ultimate goal of the 'will-to-life' is procreation?
If the ultimate goal of the 'will-to-life,' as outlined by Arthur Schopenhauer, is for the benefit of the next generation, then how can homosexuality be understood?
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What to do before reading The World as Will and Representation
What should I do/read before reading the main work of Arthur Schopenhauer. I am 50 pages in and it seems like there has to be some pre knowledge before beginning this book.
Any advices?
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Is Schopenhauerian pessimism truly passive nihilism?
Nietzsche referred to Schopenhauerian pessimism as passive nihilism. Does the categorization happen to be true or is Nietzsche's analysis somehow flawed?
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Is a dictionary of philosophy necessary for reading Schopenhauer?
Is a dictionary of philosophy necessary for reading Schopenhauer? I heard that he refused to use jargon and tried to write very clear.
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Unclear phrase in Arthur Schopenhauer's essay
English isn't my first language and I am reading an essay by Arthur Schopenhauer. I came across the following lines I couldn't understand:
The Art of Literature By Arthur Schopenhauer:
"Thus ...
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How does this anthropic principle argument from Schopenhauer make any sense?
According to a blog post This is what another universe looks like, "in Arthur Schopenhauer's 1844 work "Von der Nichtigkeit und dem Leiden des Lebens", he argues that our world must be the worst of ...
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Schopenhauer on the unworthiness of life
In which book and section does Schopenhauer say that "life is so short, questionable and evanescent that it is not worth the trouble of any major effort"?
I often see this quote attributed to him, ...
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Nietzsche's departure from Schopenhauer
I'm attempting to understand the will to power by first presenting Nietzsche's first mentor, Schopenhauer, and his notion of the will to survival/life.
In very simple terms, I believe S believed that ...
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What is the connection between Schopenhauer’s “steam valve” and Plato’s “cave”?
Schopenhauer speaks of the media as a “steam valve”,
”freedom of the press is to the machinery of the state what the safety valve is to the steam engine: every discontent is by means of it ...
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Schopenauer's critique of Kant: the distinction between knowledge of perception from abstract knowledge
I am reading "The World as Will and Representation" by Arthur Schopenhauer (Norman, J., Welchman, A., & Janaway, C. (Eds.). (2010). Schopenhauer: 'The World as Will and Representation'). In the ...
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Why was music such a fascination for philosophers and mathematicians alike?
Why were ancient philosophers and mathematicians so intrigued by music? Why did philosophers like Plato, Arthur Schopenhaur, Neitsche and etc perceive it differently than other forms of art?
P. S it ...
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Is Schopenhauer's World Will generally the same as Schelling’s Absolute Self?
Schopenhauer obviously learns from the German Idealists tradition of assuming an unconscious force acting on the world (or "underneath" it), but Schopenhauer's take is that this force is a blind will, ...
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What editions of Schopenhauer's principal works have translated quotations?
I've got "The Fourfold Root" and "The World as Will and Representation", and I'm very much tempted to read them, however the untranslated quotations in Greek and Latin turn me completely off.
Any ...
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Who did Schopenhauer have in mind when he wrote about "bad writers"?
In Brazil, a collection of five Schopenhuaer essays was published under the name "The Art of Writing", consisting of the essays Über Gelehrsamkeit und Gelehrte; Selbstdenken; Über Schriftstellerei und ...
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Another Schopenhauer "Fourfold Root" question
This is my second ever question. I am reading Schopenhauer's "On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason". I am a beginner to philosophy, and received a very helpful reply to my ...
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Schopenhauer's Fourfold Root: query on a passage
This is my first posting, and I have no background in philosophy so I beg your indulgence if this is an unusually basic query. I was hoping for clarification of a very short passage in Schopenhauer's "...
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Why does Schopenhauer think aesthetic experience is the suspension of pain and desire?
In an discussion about Schopenhauer , the French philosophy teacher Christophe Salaün says:
"L'expérience esthétique est la suspension momentanée de la douleur, du désir. En supprimant provisoirement ...
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What did Schopenhauer mean by 'slipping a tip to a head-waiter when pretending to be above such things'?
I bolded and italicised this simile below.
Source: p. 46 Middle. Ethics: A Beginner's Guide (2015) by Peter Cave.
Slipping a tip: Kant thought moral duty must be carried out for its own sake;
...
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Argument for Vegetarianism
I was wondering, what are some philosophical arguments for vegetarianism that are not hedonistic. I understand the hedonist's argument for vegetarianism, however I would like to understand a different ...
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Could I please request an introduction to philosophy of pessimism?
Everything from essential texts, interpretations of the absurd, eternal return, interpretations of suicide and religion, and it's influence on the arts. And, I know I am asking a lot, but I'd like to ...
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Had Wittgenstein moved away from Schopenhauer by the time of the Tractatus?
Wittgenstein, according to Elizabeth Anscombe (one of his students), was impressed by Schopenhauer as a young man; given Schopenhauer is known for asserting
The world is my idea:”—this is a truth ...
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How does Schopenhauer maintain idealism without God?
In Berkeley's idealism God holds the world together, enabling us to avoid chaos and experience a shared, orderly reality. But Schopenhauer is an idealist and an atheist. How can we then explain the ...
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Why should we consider Wittgenstein a Schopenhauerian idealist?
About the Tractatus, while explaining the similarities and differences between Wittgenstein and Kant with regard to the metaphysics, on the one hand (both track limits, according to which we cannot ...
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Have interpreted Schopenhauer's ethics correctly?
May anyone please help me if I interpreted Schopenhauer's ethics correctly/have forgotten something important:
"Important for the ethics of Schopenhauer is the egoism - because you see yourself as ...
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How does Nietzsche's last man refuse life?
The way Nietzsche talks about the last man suggests that they are concerned with making life more bearable, and not much else.
A little poison now and then: that makes for pleasant dreams. And much
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What does Schopenhauer mean by 'A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants'?
I first encountered the bolded quote on p 80, Philosophy: A Complete Introduction (2012) by Prof Sharon Kaye (MA PhD in Philosophy, U. Toronto), part of Chapter 6 on Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau, free will,...
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In which sense Wittgenstein criticizes Schopenhauer's WILL?
In the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, the section 6.53 may be treated as "a criticism of Schopenhauer's Will".
As far as I understood there is also another concept involved: the russellian idea that ...
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Why does Wittgenstein say Schopenhauer has a crude mind?
"One could call Schopenhauer an altogether crude mind. I.e., he does have refinement, but at a certain level this suddenly comes to an
end & he is as crude as the crudest. Where real depth ...
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What are some counterarguments to Schopenhauer's refutation of free will?
The following slogan often attributed to Schopenhauer
"A man can do as he will, but not will as he will" [so there is no free will]
— quoted by Albert Einstein in "Mein Weltbild" (...
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What is subject in the world as will and representation?
Book 1 section 2 of The World As Will And Representation begins with the words:
That which knows all things and is known by none is the subject. It is accordingly the supporter of the world, the ...
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