Arthur Schopenhauer

Lore & Background

Arthur Schopenhauer was born on 22 February 1788 in Danzig, the son of Heinrich Floris Schopenhauer and Johanna Schopenhauer, both descendants of wealthy German patrician families. His family supported the French Revolution and were republicans, cosmopolitans, and Anglophiles. In 1797, he was sent to Le Havre to live with his father's business associate, where he learned French and formed a lifelong friendship. He began playing the flute in 1799. In 1803, he accompanied his parents on a European tour, during which he attended school in Wimbledon, London, and later criticized Anglican religiosity. His father drowned in 1805, possibly by suicide, leaving a significant inheritance. Schopenhauer showed moodiness in his youth and acknowledged inheriting it from his father. After quitting his merchant apprenticeship, he studied at the Ernestine Gymnasium in Gotha, but left after writing a satirical poem about a schoolmaster. He spent two years as a merchant in honor of his father, then moved to Weimar, where his mother Johanna hosted a famous salon. He attended her parties, often hoping to see Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He left Weimar to study at the University of Göttingen in 1809, initially choosing medicine due to scientific interests, but switched to philosophy around 1810–11 under the influence of professor Gottlob Ernst Schulze, who advised him to concentrate on Plato and Immanuel Kant.

Reader's Guide

Schopenhauer's significance lies in his development of a systematic philosophy that combined Kantian transcendental idealism with a pessimistic worldview, centered on the concept of a blind, irrational will as the underlying reality. His work The World as Will and Representation, though initially neglected, gained posthumous influence across philosophy, literature, and science. He was among the first Western philosophers to affirm tenets of Indian philosophy, such as asceticism and denial of the self. His writings on aesthetics, morality, and psychology have influenced many thinkers and artists. Despite his lack of attention during his lifetime, his ideas later impacted fields ranging from existentialism to psychology. His personal life was marked by a difficult relationship with his mother, a period of merchant training, and a turn to academic study after his father's death. His legacy endures as a key figure in philosophical pessimism and a bridge between Western and Eastern thought.

Did You Know?

• Schopenhauer was known as the 'Philosopher of Pessimism'.
• He began playing the flute as early as 1799.
• His father Heinrich drowned in a canal in 1805, possibly by suicide.
• He wrote a satirical poem about a schoolmaster at the Ernestine Gymnasium, leading to his departure.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Arthur Schopenhauer (22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher, most famous for his work The World as Will and Representation (1819)." — Arthur Schopenhauer "The old woman dies, the burden is lifted." — Arthur Schopenhauer "We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people." — Arthur Schopenhauer "If there is anything in the world that can really be called a man’s property, it is surely that which is the result of his mental activity." — Arthur Schopenhauer