Schopenhauer - The Will and Pessimism

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) scheduled his lectures at the exact same time as Hegel just to spite him. (Nobody showed up to Schopenhauer's class). He was bitter, arrogant, and brilliant.

Schopenhauer looked at Kant's "Thing-in-Itself" and gave it a name: The Will to Live.

Unlike Hegel's rational "Spirit," Schopenhauer's "Will" is a blind, hungry, irrational force. It drives plants to grow, animals to eat, and humans to desire.

Because the Will is endless desire, satisfaction is impossible.

• Desire: We want something -> Pain.
• Satisfaction: We get it -> Brief pleasure -> Boredom.
• Cycle: We want something new -> Pain again.

"Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom."

Is there any hope? A little.

1. Art: Aesthetic contemplation (especially music) momentarily frees us from the Will. We stop "wanting" and just "observe."
2. Compassion: Realizing that we are all part of the same Will. Helping others quiets our own ego.

He was the first major Western philosopher to integrate Eastern philosophy (Buddhism/Hinduism). He deeply influenced Nietzsche, Freud, and Einstein.

Next, we meet the father of Existentialism: Kierkegaard.