The University of Chicago Press Arthur Schopenhauer: The Life and Thought of Philosophys Greatest Pessimist

"Although the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer spent most of his life in relative obscurity, by his final decade he was counted among the most famous philosophers in all of Europe. A singular and remarkably influential thinker, Schopenhauer is usually described as an extreme pessimist. He saw existence as fundamentally without purpose in a world in which human desires can only be satisfied in a fleeting sense. This book reevaluates Schopenhauer's pessimism in the context of his life experiences, revealing the philosopher's relentless fascination with the world and making a case for his contemporary relevance. Despite his pessimistic outlook on human existence, Schopenhauer didn't give up after concluding that we live in a world full of endless suffering. Rather, he recognized that the question of how to live becomes even more pressing, and he worked to provide an answer. In this book, David Bather Woods shows how Schopenhauer used his unique intellectual freedom to take on a wide range of worldly issues that continue to matter to us today, including mental health, education, sex, gender, punishment, loneliness, race, fame, and death. This book tells the story of how the events of Schopenhauer's life informed his original stances on these issues, and how his answers to many of life's most pressing questions still resonate today"-- An engaging biography of one of the most influential Western philosophers and a thought-provoking exploration of how to live with Arthur Schopenhauer’s pessimism. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) almost wasn’t one of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century. Born in the Free City of Danzig to a family of shipping merchants, he was destined for a life of imports and exports until his father died in a suspected suicide. After much deliberation, the young Schopenhauer invested his inheritance in himself and his philosophical vocation. But the long road to recognition was a difficult one, with Schopenhauer spending all but the last decade of his life in total obscurity. Yet his ideas and style went on to influence great thinkers, including Friedrich Nietzsche, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Sigmund Freud, as well as artists such as the composer Richard Wagner and writers Marcel Proust, Thomas Mann, Samuel Beckett, and many more. A singular and remarkably influential thinker, Schopenhauer is usually described as an extreme pessimist. He questioned the purpose of existence in a world where pain and suffering are inescapable and happiness is all too brief. In this engaging philosophical biography, David Bather Woods reevaluates Schopenhauer’s pessimism in the context of his life experiences, revealing the philosopher’s relentless fascination with the world and making a case for his contemporary relevance. Bather Woods weaves together Schopenhauer’s ideas with the story of how he came to be, including such topics as love, loneliness, morality, politics, gender, sexuality, death, suicide, fame, and madness. In doing so, this book answers some of life’s most challenging questions about how to deal with pain and loss, and how to live with ourselves and each other. Despite his pessimistic outlook on human existence, Schopenhauer didn’t give up on life. Rather, he recognized that the question of how to live becomes even more pressing, and he worked to provide an answer. Bather Woods shows how Schopenhauer’s life informed his ideas and how they still resonate today. Autorid: David Bather Woods