Arthur Schopenhauer discussion

Use this thread to introduce yourself.

My reading interests include Secular Buddhism, Existentialism, the European Age of Enlightenment, Skepticism, Greek and Roman Philosophy, and Classic Literature. Outside of reading I enjoy tea and meditation.

I’m mainly interested in the works of Schopenhauer because I think that his thoughts are a good bridge between Western and Eastern philosophy. I also think that his conception of “the Will” is very interesting in light of the idea of Darwinian Evolution (which didn’t get wide acceptance until after his death); in fact, I’m interested in writing a book connecting Schopenhauer’s philosophy to evolutionary psychology.

Note: While I created this group and sent out invitations in November 2018, I am not planning on being too active in it until the beginning of 2019 (I have some books on evolution that I want to read before 2019 that I want to color my re-reading). The reason for launching the group earlier is that it gives time for the group to attract members, for members to get access to the readings, and make their own reading plans for 2019 (while the readings are in the public domain, I would recommend getting the book Delphi Collected Works of Arthur Schopenhauer (Illustrated) as it collects all readings for the group). However, I do not want to discourage anyone for starting sooner during 2018 if they so choose.

Honestly, Schopenhauer was not on my short list of philosophers to read, but you need to have a beginning...

I've only arrived at reading philosophy recently (1 year) after a few aborted attempts. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are some early favorites. I've been listening frequently to a philosophy podcast that has provided me with an ever-growing list of books to read.

Besides philosophy, I also read a lot of classics. I enjoy finding the lesser-known novels of authors to see how they stand up to their more popular books.

Hello all, I'm a complete beginner at this where I know less than little, okay maybe a couple of facts in random order (which I would have no idea how to talk about), one of these is Schopenhauer whom I only came across via art the connection he has with it.

I wish I could explain more but maybe one of these days when I know more I will :)

Inkspill wrote: "Hello all, I'm a complete beginner at this where I know less than little, okay maybe a couple of facts in random order (which I would have no idea how to talk about), one of these is Schopenhauer w..."

If your interest is in art you may like book 3 of volume 1 of "The World as Will and Idea"

MJD wrote: "Inkspill wrote: "Hello all, I'm a complete beginner at this where I know less than little, okay maybe a couple of facts in random order (which I would have no idea how to talk about), one of these ..."

Yeah I am interested in art but also subjects that surround it, so everything else.

Next year, I'm going to try and work out how to make room to start reading some philsophy. Schopenhauer has my attention but I'm going to try and start from the beginning and see where that takes me. In the meantime, I'll have a look at this one, thanks for suggestion MJD.

Hi, I'm Tina and my interest lies in the long 19th century culture in particular the relationship between music and literature.

I haven't read any of Schopenhauer's text yet, but this group seems to be a good motivation to stop avoiding Schopenhauer and get to know him better.

Tina wrote: "Hi, I'm Tina and my interest lies in the long 19th century culture in particular the relationship between music and literature.

I haven't read any of Schopenhauer's text yet, but this group seems..."

Welcome to the group. While the first two books on this group's page - "On the Fourfold..." and "The World as..." - can be a bit harder to read with there professorial tone at times, the other books have a more conversational tone that are a lot easier to read (note: I think that he was influenced a lot by Kant's style of writing in those two earlier books, especially the style taken by Kant in his "Critique of Pure Reason" that even Kant himself admitted was a difficult read).

Another way of putting it, the first two books seem more like a lecture at times given at a large university lecture room, and the other books seem more like a conversation taking place in a cafe in a university.

Loretta wrote: "I know absolutely nothing about Arthur Schopenhauer. Lets see how it goes."

I hope that you find his works rewarding. At the very least, reading some Schopenhauer could help to increase your understanding and appreciation of the works of others that were influenced by him.

For instance, as Schopenhauer supposedly was influential to Tolstoy (see the preview page of the book in this link https://www.jstor.org/stable/24748326... ), reading his writings can help in understanding and appreciating what Tolstoy wrote.

For example, having read both The Basis of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy, it seems to me that Tolstoy could have been drawing from ideas found in the "Basis of Morality" book (especially the part of Schopenhauer's book where he writes about the mental state of people as they approach death).

Hi,

I am Rishabh, a student of cognitive science in India. I got introduced to Schopenhauer's work during my philosophy of mind course. Till now, I have read 'On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason' and 'The world as will and Idea - Volume 1'. I am looking forward read more of his work.