Schopenhauer and the Wild Years of Philosophy by Rüdiger Safranski

Unfortunately, his belligerent opposition to the back-then trends of philosophy (namely, German idealism), his pathological pride and unpleasant nature caused him to be ignored for most of his life, and being ahead of his time for at least half a century he was only appreciated as a philosopher after he died. Arthur was free to go to university and in 1819 he published The world as will and representation, his magnum opus that he regarded as his child and legacy to humanity. The untimely death of his father freed him of such a commitment, and he, his mother and his sister lived comfortable lives after selling the the trading company. Schopenhauer and the wild years of philosophy combines exposition of the philosopher’s personal life, social and historical context, intellectual influences and original thought.īorn in Danzig in 1788 to a prominent merchant and a educated patrician twenty years her husband’s junior, Schopenhauer had a neglected childhood and was expected to inherit his father’s commercial empire, much to his dismay, since he loved the intellectual life with a passion since a very young age. I never thought I would agree with Schopenhauer in anything, and though I’m thoroughly convinced that the man was comically insufferable, lo and behold, I stand corrected. Score: An excellent introduction to Schopenhauer’s life and work. Schopenhauer and the wild years of philosophy, by Rüdiger Safranski (1988).

Schopenhauer and the Wild Years of Philosophy by Rüdiger Safranski