The Philosophy of Schopenhauer

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Routledge, Jan 30, 2015 - Philosophy - 320 pages
Dale Jacquette charts the development of Schopenhauer's ideas from the time of his early dissertation on The Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason through the two editions of his magnum opus The World as Will and Representation to his later collections of philosophical aphorisms and competition essays. Jacquette explores the central topics in Schopenhauer's philosophy including his metaphysics of the world as representation and Will, his so-called pessimistic philosophical 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. Jacquette shows how these many complex themes fit together in a unified portrait of Schopenhauer's philosophy. The synthesis of Plato, Kant and Buddhist and Hindu ideas is given particular attention as is his influence on Nietzsche, first a follower and then arch opponent of Schopenhauer's thought, and the early Wittgenstein. The book provides a comprehensive and in-depth historical and philosophical introduction to Schopenhauer's distinctive contribution to philosophy.

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Contents

Schopenhauers life and times
1
1 Schopenhauers idealism
11
from natural science to transcendental metaphysics
40
3 Willing and the world as Will
71
4 Suffering salvation death and renunciation of the will to life
108
5 Art and aesthetics of the beautiful and sublime
145
6 Transcendental freedom of Will
180
7 Compassion as the philosophical foundation of morality
203
8 Schopenhauers legacy in the philosophy of Nietzsche Heidegger and the early Wittgenstein
234
Notes
265
Bibliography and recommended reading
281
Index
291
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Dale Jacquette

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