Arthur Schopenhauer discussion

Use this thread to discuss "On Authorship."

I found Schopenhauer's explanation of "Matter" and "Form" interesting. Matter being an author's/artist's ideas and Form being the method they use to express those ideas.

Schopenhauer says that the public is more interested in Matter than Form and that's easily seen in attitudes towards poetry. We concentrate on what the poem tells us and not how the ideas are expressed (the artistry of the poet). I think you can see the same thing in other forms of entertainment. There's so many television shows and movies that have identical plots, and they get the most viewership, while more "artsy" shows barely make any money.