Studies in Pessimism (Audio Book) 01 -- On the sufferings of the world

Studies in Pessimism (Audio Book)
by Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
Translated by T. Bailey Saunders (1860-1928)

Arthur Schopenhauer, an early 19th century philosopher, made significant contributions to metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. His work also informed theories of evolution and psychology, largely through his theory of the will to power -- a concept which Nietzsche famously adopted and developed. Despite this, he is today, as he was during his life, overshadowed by his contemporary, Hegel. Schopenhauer's social/psychological views, put forth in this work and in others, are directly derived from his metaphysics, which was strongly influenced by Eastern thought. His pessimism forms an interesting and perhaps questionable contrast with his obvious joy in self-expression, both in the elegance of his prose and in his practice of playing the flute nightly.

His brilliance, poetry, and crushing pessimism can be seen immediately in this work, as for example in this claim from the first chapter: "The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other." We see also, in this work, his misogyny, as for example in his claim that "as lions are provided with claws and teeth, and elephants and boars with tusks, . . . so Nature has equipped woman, for her defence and protection, with the arts of dissimulation; and all the power which Nature has conferred upon man in the shape of physical strength and reason, has been bestowed upon women in this form." Given his opening comment, the translator, T.B. Saunders, seems to have been at least somewhat sympathetic to this perspective.
(Summary by D.E. Wittkower)

[aaronyandell]

"You just got to see the bright side of life." *whistles song while being crucified*

[EarthAngel]

as far as cold being the absence of Heat.. I would argue that it's the other way around.. Cold came 1st. the same way Night time is the beginning of a New Day. the day time is momentary with the emergence of the sun which is temporary. if you remove all the luminaries, you would have constant Darkness and Cold, which is the Absence of the created Luminaries.

[stevekennedy]

Does natural evolution explain suffering?

[geniusturner]

To truly grasp the following passage is to encounter "true religion, " unmasked . . . free of all allegorical coating:


"The contrast which the New Testament presents when compared with the Old, according to the ecclesiastical
view of the matter, is just that existing between my ethical system and the moral philosophy of Europe. The
Old Testament represents man as under the dominion of Law, in which, however, there is no redemption. The
New Testament declares Law to have failed, frees man from its dominion, [1] and in its stead preaches the
kingdom of grace, to be won by faith, love of neighbor and entire sacrifice of self. This is the path of
redemption from the evil of the world. The spirit of the New Testament is undoubtedly asceticism, however
your protestants and rationalists may twist it to suit their purpose. Asceticism is the denial of the will to live;
and the transition from the Old Testament to the New, from the dominion of Law to that of Faith, from
justification by works to redemption through the Mediator, from the domain of sin and death to eternal life in
Christ, means, when taken in its real sense, the transition from the merely moral virtues to the denial of the
will to live. My philosophy shows the metaphysical foundation of justice and the love of mankind, and points
to the goal to which these virtues necessarily lead, if they are practiced in perfection."
--Schopenhauer