Arthur Schopenhauer

Rodney F. Taylor

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 22 Feb 1788
Died 21 Sep 1860
Activity 1813-1860

Places

Born in Germany
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Philosopher

Resources

Schopenhauer's philosophy begins with Berkeley's dictum that sensible reality is an object for consciousness: “esse est percipi”, to be is to perceive, from which it follows that “the world is my Idea”. His magnum opus, Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung [The World as Will and Idea], is among humanity's supreme achievements. A literary work of art, the treatise is an ontology, or theory of being, which encompasses an epistemology, a Platonic aesthetic and a Buddhist ethic. Schopenhauer's book epitomizes the ancient tradition of Wisdom Philosophy, for it elaborates a metaphysic of spiritual freedom illuminating the soul's way to salvation. The impact of Schopenhauer's philosophy was immense, encompassing …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

3506 words

Citation: Taylor, Rodney F.. "Arthur Schopenhauer". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3964, accessed 20 April 2024.]

View recommended reading for this article

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here