Description
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.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Chapter One Schopenhauer's idealism; Chapter Two Empirical knowledge of the world as representation: from natural science to transcendental metaphysics; Chapter Three Willing and the world as Will; Chapter Four Suffering, salvation, death, and renunciation of the will to life; Chapter Five Art and aesthetics of the beautiful and sublime; Chapter Six Transcendental freedom of Will; Chapter Seven Compassion as the philosophical foundation of morality; Chapter Eight Schopenhauer's legacy in the philosophy of Nietzsche, Heidegger and the early Wittgenstein;
