Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) stands as a unique and often unsettling figure in the history of philosophy, distinguished by his profound pessimism and his revolutionary doctrine of the primacy of Will.
Unlike most philosophers who sought to prove the world’s inherent goodness, Schopenhauer argued that existence is fundamentally characterized by endless suffering, driven by a blind, irrational, and insatiable cosmic Will. His philosophy, drawing inspiration from Kant, Plato, and, crucially, the Upanishads and Buddhism, offered a starkly different path to understanding reality and finding solace.
Schopenhauer’s system is an adaptation of Kant’s, but with a radical twist: he retained the thing-in-itself but identified it with Will. For him, what appears to our perception as the physical body is, in its true reality, an objectification of our will.
This individual will, however, is merely a manifestation of a single, vast, and timeless cosmic Will that underlies all phenomena, animate and inanimate alike. Our apparent separateness is an illusion, a product of our spatio-temporal perception.
This cosmic Will, however, is not a benevolent God but a source of endless striving and suffering. As Schopenhauer wrote, “Will has no fixed end, which if achieved would bring contentment.” Life is a futile pursuit, like blowing a soap bubble destined to burst, with unfulfilled wishes causing pain and attainment leading only to satiety. He controversially linked the shame associated with the sexual act to its role in perpetuating this cycle of suffering and death.
🧘 The Path to Nirvana: Renunciation and Asceticism
Despite his bleak assessment of existence, Schopenhauer offered a path to salvation, found not in traditional Western religious concepts, but in Eastern wisdom—particularly the concept of Nirvana, which he interpreted as extinction.
The key to escaping suffering, he argued, lies in diminishing the intensity of Will. The less we exercise will, the less we suffer. This is achieved through a form of ascetic mysticism: practicing complete chastity, voluntary poverty, fasting, and self-torture, all aimed at breaking down the individual will.
Unlike Western mystics who sought union with a benevolent God, Schopenhauer’s goal was purely negative: to come as close as possible to non-existence. He believed that when the “veil of Maya” (illusion) is lifted, the saint perceives that all things are one. This knowledge quiets all volition, leading the will to turn away from life and deny its own nature. In his words, “No will: no idea, no world. Before us there is certainly only nothingness.”
Schopenhauer’s philosophy, while often inconsistent and seemingly insincere in light of his own life (which was far from ascetic), holds historical importance for two reasons: his pessimism and his doctrine of the primacy of the will.
His pessimism offered an antidote to the prevalent optimism of his age, allowing philosophers to grapple with evil without resorting to elaborate justifications. More significantly, his emphasis on the will as paramount profoundly influenced later philosophers like Nietzsche, Bergson, James, and Dewey, marking a notable shift in the temper of philosophy towards a greater appreciation of non-rational forces.
While his specific conclusions remain controversial, Schopenhauer’s audacious exploration of the will and his unflinching confrontation with suffering left an indelible mark on modern thought.
Source: Russell, Bertrand. A History of Western Philosophy. Simon and Schuster, 1945.
More Topics
- John Dewey: Instrumentalism and the Evolution of Truth
- The Utilitarians: Can Happiness Be Quantified and Legislated?
- Karl Marx: The Philosopher of History, Class, and Revolution
- Bergson: The Philosopher of Life, Intuition, and Creative Evolution
- William James: Radical Empiricism and the ‘Will to Believe’
- Locke’s Theory of Knowledge: How Did Empiricism Challenge Innate Ideas?
- Locke’s Political Philosophy: How Did He Justify Government by Consent?
