The Philosophy of Schopenhauer

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McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2005 - Philosophy - 305 pages
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) crafted one of the most unified philosophical systems by synthesizing Plato, Kant, and Asian religious traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism into an encyclopedic worldview that combines the empirical science of his day with Eastern mysticism in a radically idealist metaphysics and epistemology. In "The Philosophy of Schopenhauer," Dale Jacquette assesses Schopenhauer's philosophical enterprise and the astonishing implications it has for metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, logic, science, and religion. Jacquette analyses the central topics in Schopenhauer's philosophy, including his so-called pessimistic appraisal of the human condition, his examination of the concept of death, his dualistic analysis of free will, and his simplified non-Kantian theory of morality. His metaphysics of the world as representation and Will--his most important and controversial contribution--is discussed in depth. The legacy of Schopenhauer's ideas, in particular his influence on Nietzsche, who was first a follower and then an arch opponent, and the early Wittgenstein, is explored in the final chapter. This introduction makes even the most difficult of Schopenhauer's ideas accessible without sacrificing any of their complexity.

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Contents

Schopenhauers idealism
11
from
40
Willing and the world as Will
71
Suffering salvation death and renunciation of the will to life
108
Art and aesthetics of the beautiful and sublime
145
Transcendental freedom of Will
180
Compassion as the philosophical foundation of morality
203
Schopenhauers legacy in the philosophy of Nietzsche
234
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About the author (2005)

Dale Jacquette is professor of philosophy at Pennsylvania State University and author of Ontology, A Companion to Philosophical Logic, and The Cambridge Companion to Brentano.

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