Schopenhauer Arthur: biography, career, personal life. Collected works in six volumes (Arthur Schopenhauer) Schopenhauer and his "philosophy of pessimism"

Arthur Schopenhauer was born on February 22, 1788 in Prussian Danzig (now Gdansk). He was from a wealthy and highly cultured family. His father, being a well-known businessman and banker in the district, often traveled all over the country. Mother tried herself in literary creativity and was the mistress of the salon, where they often went very famous personalities including Goethe himself.

When Arthur was nine years old, his parents sent him to study in Le Havre. Later, the boy was sent to a very prestigious gymnasium in Hamburg. The offspring of noble German merchants studied there. At the age of fifteen, Schopenhauer spent half a year at Wimbledon. This was followed by further education at the Weimar Gymnasium and the University of Göttingen: there the young man studied the natural sciences and philosophy. In 1811, Arthur moved to Berlin and diligently attended the lectures of Schleimacher and Fichte. A year later, Schopenhauer became a doctor of philosophy at the University of Jena.

Schopenhauer and his "philosophy of pessimism"

Arthur Schopenhauer developed the idea that happiness does not exist. The reason for this is simple: people's unfulfilled desires hurt them. If the aspirations are realized, they lead only to satiety. The philosopher declares any goals to be meaningless, comparing them with "soap bubbles". Being bloated up big size, the target simply bursts.

Questions of will and motivation occupy a key place in Schopenhauer's teaching. The philosopher argued with those scientists who put the intellect in the first place in human life. Will - that's what is the fundamental principle of man, Schopenhauer believed. This eternal substance is self-sufficient, it cannot disappear and determines what the world will be like.

Nicknamed "the philosopher of pessimism," Schopenhauer extolled the ideas of Hegel and Fichte. During his lifetime, the German philosopher was not in the first roles in the scientific world. However, his works had a considerable influence on the generations of philosophers who came to replace him.

Schopenhauer published his main scientific work, entitled The World as Will and Representation, in 1819. In this work, the philosopher reflected his views on the will as a true reality. A year later, Schopenhauer became a lecturer at the University of Berlin. However, he failed to attract to his work the attention that his colleague Hegel received.

Schopenhauer was not popular during his lifetime. However, in 1839, for the competitive work "On the Freedom of the Human Will", the philosopher was awarded the honorary prize of the Royal Norwegian Scientific Society.

Philosopher's personal life

Schopenhauer shunned society and women. In his life there was a girl who planted the seed of misogyny in the sensitive soul of the philosopher. One day a young man fell in love with Caroline Jaegerman without a memory. The love was so strong that he even decided to start a family. However, his chosen one did not want to burden herself with family ties with a pessimistic philosopher. She asked Arthur to leave her alone.

A thought flashed through Schopenhauer's head: all women are inherently stupid. These narrow-minded beings are not capable of building the future. In a woman, the philosopher began to see only sinfulness and vice.

In the declining years

The cold attitude to the ideas of Schopenhauer and personal troubles brought him disappointment. He did not stay in Berlin, but moved to Frankfurt am Main. The official reason for the move was the cholera epidemic. In the new place, the philosopher spent the rest of his life in complete solitude. The inhabitants of the German city for a long time remembered this very unfriendly, unnecessarily gloomy person. Schopenhauer was usually sullen and disliked empty talk. He avoided people and did not trust them. In man, Schopenhauer saw a wild animal, full of passions, which are held back only by the bridle of civilization.

In 1860, the philosopher fell ill with pneumonia; September 21, he was gone. The philosopher's gravestone is characterized by extreme modesty. The inscription "Arthur Schopenhauer" is carved on it. Interest in the work of the German thinker began to awaken in society only after his death.

Arthur Schopenhauer is a German irrationalist philosopher. Schopenhauer's teaching, the main provisions of which are set forth in The World as Will and Representation and other works, is often called "pessimistic philosophy." He considered human life meaningless, and the existing world - "the worst of all possible worlds."

According to Schopenhauer, the world is an "arena strewn with coals" through which a person has to pass. The driving force of everything is the will to live, which gives rise to desires. But even if desires are satisfied, a person is not able to experience happiness, instead, satiety and boredom await him, and then new desires and suffering.

Schopenhauer's original ideas were developed in various areas of social and scientific thought. His views influenced psychoanalysis and the theory of evolution, various directions philosophy and the study of the structure of language.

The first translation of Schopenhauer's work into Russian was made in 1903 by the literary critic Julius Isaevich Aikhenvald, who called himself an impressionist critic and was highly respected in literary circles. Thanks to the translations of Julius Eichenwald, all the main works of Arthur Schopenhauer are available to us.

Like other books in the "Great Ideas" series, the book will be simply indispensable in the library of students of the humanities, as well as for those who want to get acquainted with the key works and ideas of world philosophy and...

Andrey/ 04/14/2017 When I found out that he was a misanthrope and paranoid, I thought - How could such a person see the world? And why should I read the views of the world of a misanthrope and a paranoiac? After all, you can really get infected with ideas and ... there will be consequences. I think you need to be careful with philosophers, with GREAT scientists, religions, etc. Remember that this is all creativity, a product, opinions (not facts) of mere mortals, people. A little more reasonable skepticism to everything, we often lack it.

Ieffay Bdolakhov/ 01/17/2016 Required reading, reflection, study ...
If someone is delusional, then, almost a quote, from Schopenhauer: "If an empty sound is heard during a collision between a head and a book, then the book is not necessarily to blame" :)

ZZZ/ 3.11.2014 Arthur Schopenhauer selected works audiobook

http://turbobit.net/raa4k9ecmgk1.html

Amilius/ 06/21/2014 Each person has a worldview - however, a philosopher is able to express it creatively, in an original way, and is also inclined to a more conscious attitude towards his worldview and transforming it into a certain system, the elements of which do not have to be connected with each other by a strict logical connection. Philosophy is not science, but philosophy, science, religion and art are intertwined with each other, forming something of a single whole. For example, we can say that psychology is a science. However, it is based on certain assumptions - a paradigm (and more specifically, on a certain philosophy). The practical application of the knowledge of psychology is already an art. The philosopher can express himself in scientific work, and in work of art. For example, Jean-Paul Sartre expressed his worldview in the philosophical treatise "Being and Nothingness" and in the novel "Nausea". But it should be understood that philosophy, science, religion and art are all various forms man's expression of his creative powers.

Amilius/ 21.06.2014 In painting, the artist expresses himself through drawing. This is how he realizes his creative potential. A sculptor sculpts sculptures, a poet composes poetry, and a singer sings. Philosopher (namely, a philosopher, and not a doctor or candidate of philosophical sciences or a teacher of philosophy, who may not really be philosophers, but have only certain titles and positions associated with philosophy as a sociocultural phenomenon, but not as an expression of the original creativity) also makes art. Philosophy is an art - the art of thinking, which manifests itself in the creation of concepts - that is, it is not just idle speculation, but at the same time it is not a proclamation of indisputable truths, but a creative expression by a philosopher of his subjective truth, his worldview.

Hegel is wrong!/ 06/20/2014 Whoever subscribes to "Hegel" is wrong.
In fact - read Hegel's "Philosophy of Law", section 3, Good and Conscience.

Amilius/ 06/11/2014 JuliaD, in 1992, Schopenhauer's book was published, which was called "Free Will and Morality" and which contained two of his works: "Two Basic Problems of Ethics" and "Aphorisms of Worldly Wisdom". All of these works are available on the site and can be freely downloaded. Happy reading!