Why Schopenhauer Believed in MAGIC (The World as Will)

WATCH: SCHOPENHAUER Explained: The World as Will and Representation (ALL PARTS)

Arthur Schopenhauer believed in magic. In an essay called "On the Will in Nature" Schopenhauer tells us, without a hint of irony, he believes in the magical abilities of some humans. How can such a smart and accomplished person fall for the act of a showman illusionist? This has puzzled readers for centuries. Yet, in Schopenhauer's system as explained in The World as Will and Representation, there is room for magic. This video aims to show exactly how.

[codbmc]

Never stop making these I love this channel

[cosminblk]

I am just a smart guy : I see Schopenhauer, I click.

[nagelsleu]

little did you know, Arthur was the only one to have figured out the truth behind Sr Regazzoni.

[jimporfit]

I think he was right just the wrong type of magic. Those were illusions he saw, and that he justified it with the correct logic. The real magic exists in the super conscious realm.

[LolliPop]

The existence of an Italian conman hardly proves magic is "obviously absurd, " no more than counterfeit money proves real money doesn't exist. Bernardo Kastrup, whom who discuss elsewhere, addresses this issue re his own, Schopenhauer-ish metaphysics. Magic would be impossible in a purely materialistic world, but if "the world is mental" as Kastrup says, it does indeed become possible (there is no impassible wall btw my will and the world) but in practice unlikely enough to be ignored outside of entertainment. Schopenhauer's world may not entail magic, but magic does entail a world along the lines of Schopenhauer or Kastrup. I discuss New Thought and relate it to Evola's "Magical Idealism, " Crowley's Magick and Neo Platonism in my recent book, Mysticism After Modernism: Crowley, Evola, Neville, Watts, Colin Wilson and Other Populist Gurus. Had I known more about Schopenhauer I would have included him as well.

[Shevock]

My thoughts: Is your non-belief in magic, as Schopenhauer conceived of it (Will accomplishing seemingly super-natural, or super-material things) based one an apriori bias, a prejudice against the possibility of magic common to our generation, or philosophically thought-out? In the video your claims against magic seem naive, whereas Schopenhauer's belief in magic does not, even if he is wrong. There is a structure from which Schopenhauer can rationalize magic, where your assumption that the magical act was faked and that the acted upon was a plant have no similar logical basis. No proof.

[frankchilds]

I have been fooled so many times that I should win an award! Seriously, I am grateful for your video. Life itself could well be a cosmic joke or magic act anyway! 🎬 I like your film clips too!

[lovah]

I love to see Magick everywhere, and now I know I can fully appreciate Schopenhauer

[carterreloads]

Imagine if Schopenhauer ever took psychedelics. I wish I could read a trip report form him

[samuelterry]

I've started reading WWR all the way through, I've read bits of it before but not from beginning to end. I'm halfway through the third book of volume 1, and enjoying it thoroughly. Thank you for your videos on Schopenhauer, they're always very interesting.

[satnamo]

This is das trick because this is how magic happens:

By hurling my self into das abyss and then discovering it is a feather bed made of roses.

[chrystianrevelles]

Actually, was not because of this supposed hypnotist that Schopenhauer believed in Magic, but for his studying of Böehme, Mesmer, Agrippa, Paracelsus. This case was only one possible example of Magic manifesting in the world of representation. The bases of Schopenhauer's system are all in accord with Western Esoteric Tradition, from Hermeticism to Rosicrucianism. The judgement of Magic as Stupidity made by the author of the video says less about Magic than about his very limited, grotesque and ludicrous misconceptions and preconceptions regarding it.

[Sokofeather]

I should note, the famous Mesmer and others laid the ground work for clinical hypnosis, and performed similar feats of 'control', without confederates, plants. I have also performed these pieces for entertainment and can attest that it's merely a linguistic and symbolic manipulation, within the context of play, which works immediately with about 30% of any population, and can feel very real to the participant.

[PeterGregoryKelly]

Conan Doyle, who created the Sherlock Holmes character, believed in fairies. Quiet a few mining companies paid Uri Geller millions to "find" mineral rich ore bodies they could prospect.

[MhueD]

Jung makes a similar claim with his concept of Synchronicity....and it is far from crazy. The interaction between Will and Matter may be more complex then the kind of simple 'trick' versions depicted on stage, but the idea that our conscious states may have an effect on the physical world in a non-local way is well worth exploring and considering. The only argument against this is a commitment to pure reductionism ...and that has more problems as an approach.

[Technician_time]

Seems a lot like what Neville Goddard talks about manifesting reality in accordance to one's will and thought patterns

[andrejpetrov]

great video as always, keep up the good work!

[joaomoura]

Although the example of the magician is silly, Schopenhauer's explanations end up making a wonderful link between his work and the work of Carlos Castaneda: the tonal (representation) and the nagual (will)

[duhbigcat]

Schopenhauer as most of us was so desperate to transcend this world of suffering, he fell for a cheap trick. Who amongst us has not done the same?

[marton]

lmfao how i started laughing at 2:34, that's something that sounds for schopenhauer like something like my sister and I sounds for nietzsche, i didn't expect that at all