The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer Counsels and Maxims

Essays Of Schopenhauer is a fairly complete collection of short essays. Schopenhauer, one of the most relevant figures of philosophy, took this discipline to a more logical and rational level, so when you deeply analyze his writings more than one will begin to think about things in a different way, managing to transform and broaden your mind.

The collected essays are not only interesting, but also easy to read, and it is worth noting that they will not leave anyone indifferent. Schopenhauer is known for his brutal honesty, and he did not think twice to write exactly what he thought, which may displease some people. An example of this is his ideas towards women, which border on misogyny and sexism.

Even if you don't share all of his ideas, we recommend this reading to contrast them with yourown or put them in context. There is no denying that, even today, Schopenhauer's words are still relevant.

The Basis Of Moralityis a work of ethics. Schopenhauer's doctrine was that morality is based on compassion or sympathy. For him, for an action to have moral value it must have arisen from compassion, in which one feels identified to some extent with the person concerned, and without personal gain involved, for this would be selfish. Therefore, if an action is the result of any other motive, it would have no moral value.

In this work divided into 4 sections, Schopenhauer gives his impressions of the history of Western ethics, criticizes Kant's ethics and then shows us his own theory of ethics, and ends with a brief description of the metaphysical foundations of ethics.

Since this is a somewhat in-depth read, we recommend that you take your time and read it at your leisure, and it is also ideal if you already have a basic knowledge of Kant's ethics.

Although it is well known by his followers that Schopenhauer has a very pessimistic view of human nature, the reflections and observations on life that he raises in The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer on Human Nature, become stimulating for many as they tend to trigger a whole explosion of ideas and thoughts.

This book is a reflection on the hopes and fears we experience as people and societies, where Schopenhauer exposes that we tend to give more importance to the things we have than to what we actually have. That it is in our nature to look to our past (or sometimes to the future) without valuing our present.

He also raises some interesting ideas about physical and intellectual freedom leading to moral freedom. Without a doubt, Schopenhauer's ability to examine and analyze human motives and character is astounding.

The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer Religion a Dialogue Etc., is a work that takes us back to ancient Greek philosophical texts, recalling the Socratic dialogues, in which two characters expounded their discourses on knowledge and the nature of truth, each adopting an opposing perspective on the subject in question.

In this particular case the subject refers to religion, and the characters involved are Demopheles and Philalethes. The curious thing about this play is that it is not based on the traditional opposing discourses, that is, it does not pit belief against non-belief, but in this case neither of the two characters is a believer, so their disagreement is about the view they have of belief in others.

Therefore, the philosophical debate that arises goes beyond having or not having faith, but is a more complex debate about the quality of having it.

One of the characteristics for which Schopenhauer is known is that he was a pessimist, and he had a rather depressing view of the human condition; for him, the world is a mistake and something that ought not to be. In fact, his pessimism constituted one of his most famous and unique philosophical tendencies.

One of the ideas he postulated was that the will to live dictates all aspects of human existence, and since the will is insatiable this contributes to people being unhappy. Therefore, either happiness is impossible, or one must learn to control the will.

The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer Studies in Pessimism may seem at first glance to be a very bleak and depressing way of looking at the world, but for many it can actually be liberating, as it sets aside the enormous burden of assigning meaning to our existence.