Life of Arthur Schopenhauer

by William Wallace

It has been sought to escape from the judgment of Schopenhauer, that "those who, instead of studying the thoughts of a philosopher, make themselves acquainted with his life and history, are like people who, instead of occupying themselves with a picture, are rather occupied with its frame, reflecting on the taste of its carving, and the nature of its gilding." At the time of original publication in 1890, W. Wallace was Whyte's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University.

220 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1890

About the author

William Wallace (11 May 1844 – 18 February 1897) was a Scottish philosopher and academic who became fellow of Merton College and White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...

Reviews

[ehk2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent biography of my favourite Schopenhauer from a prominent expert on German idealism of its day. Having read much of the oeuvre of Schopenhauer, I've learned much about his life, source of the anecdotes on him and also his thoughts in this book. Wallace is equally good at pointing to the weaknesses in philosopher's thoughts and their relationship with his biography. The book dates back to 1890, so there are countless dated words and expressions I found hard to grasp at first, but which I enjoyed looking up and reading then...