" Would a virtuoso feel flattered by the applause of his audience if he knew that except for one or two the rest of the lot was deaf ?"

A man who writes such lines is not yet 'a long dead' person.


I picked up my old ' History of Philosophy' book to get a bit more truth of it.

Schopenhauer 1788-1860, son of a distinguished, whealthy merchant of Danzig. Moving to Hamburg, then Le Havre. They travelled a lot. After his fathers death round 1818 his mother and he settled in Weimar where he gave up the merchant education to change for an academic career.He already had a thorough knowledge of French and especially of English literature due to a stay of six month in England for his father's business sake.

In Weimar , his mother , who became a known novelist, opened her residence to many famous men. Ghoethe, Wieland, the brothers Schlegel and many more. He soon enterded universty to specialize in classic languages, but also studied the exact sciences.
Two years in Gottingen and two in Berlin, mocking his philosophy professors. Specially Fichte. (' there is some system in his madness' )

In 1813, age 25, he got his ' Ph.D.' on what was to be his departing point for all his future philosophical writing.(someting mathematical)


The centerpoint in his philosophy is the brake with his positivist predecessors, Plato , Kant and his contemporaries, Hegel , Fichte etc.

No spirit, reason, idea, the harmony of the universe, but will as the blind driving force of mankind as well as all organic and anorganic phenomenons.
All is au fond reasonless , irratinional in the deeper layers of creation. No best of all posslble worlds. Pessimism, but with a ironic, cynic yet humourus eye for the Human Comedy.

Ways out this vally of tears are through: 1. esthetics 2. Ethics.

(1) Art , specially music gives consolation, redempition.( 2.) Foresaking of the will as deliverance, coming close to
mystisism and abstenance like in Christian religions, but even more approaching ancient Indian Philosophies of which at that time first not yet very perfect translations had been done by a French writer. ( he is somehow inconsequent by accepting reincarnation and thus the survival of the 'will spirit'.)I guess he sees the eternal always recycling life energy.

Best read Counsils and Maxims and judge again. Could be less boring than you assume. Yes , I prefer to know what other people on this board are thinking too as long as they do. First requisite is to have something to think about, I think.

Last edited by BranShea; 11/24/06 09:27 PM.