logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2022
31m 49s

The Dark Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhau...

ETERNALISED
About this episode

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German Philosopher born in 1788 known for his dark pessimistic philosophical reflections.

For Schopenhauer, the underlying force of reality is the Will (also called will to live or will to life), which is the essence of existence. It is an unconscious and blind desire that restlessly strives for more activity. The will is the tornado that swirls inside of us and throws us from one place to the other, it is the source of our insatiable appetite that results in strife and misery.  

Schopenhauer’s writing is far from the sterile and academic German of the time, his work is straight-forward, colloquial, concrete, full of metaphors and anecdotes. His philosophy sent him on a quest for tranquility and peace of mind. He offers as alternatives the denial of the will, the wisdom of life through philosophy, aesthetics and ethics.


📨 ⁠⁠Subscribe to newsletter⁠⁠

Donate a coffee

Support on Patreon


✉️ Send me anything you like to my mailing address:


Eternalised

P.O. Box 10.011

28080 Madrid, Spain


━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌛ Timestamps (0:00) Introduction: Arthur Schopenhauer (7:47) The World as Will and Representation (15:07) The Will to Reproduce (16:36) The World as Evil (22:52) The Denial of the Will (25:11) Philosophy: The Wisdom of Life (27:32) Aesthetics (30:45) Ethics


Up next
Jun 18
The Psychology of Sin
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” These profound words by St. Paul express the struggle between the desire to do good and the inability to carry it out, due to the power of sin within human nature. The misalignment between o ... Show More
50m 59s
May 2
The Psychology of God's Dark Side
In 1952, at the age of seventy-six, Carl Jung wrote Answer to Job in a single burst of energy and with strong emotion. He completed it while ill, following a high fever, and upon finishing, he felt well again. The book explores the nature of God, particularly what Jung perceived ... Show More
55m 9s
Feb 2025
The Psychology of Knowing Yourself
Carl Jung published his book Psychological Types in 1921, introducing four functions of consciousness: thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition, and the two attitudes through which these four functions are deployed: introversion and extraversion. Jung’s functions follow a fourf ... Show More
51m 24s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2009
Schopenhauer
Melvyn Bragg and guests AC Grayling, Beatrice Han-Pile and Christopher Janaway discuss the dark, pessimistic philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer.As a radical young thinker in Germany in the early 19th century, Schopenhauer railed against the dominant ideas of the day. He dismissed ... Show More
42m 18s
Nov 2007
Schopenhauer - The World as Will and Idea
What is the nature of reality? Why can music be so profound? Are we doomed to suffer or is extended happiness possible? Should we choose a life of asceticism? These are some of the questions that Arthur Schopenhauer addressed in The World as Will and Idea. In this episode of Phil ... Show More
12m 35s
Jan 2009
The Consolations of Philosophy
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the consolation of Philosophy. In the 6th century AD, a successful and intelligent Roman politician called Boethius found himself unjustly accused of treason. Trapped in his prison cell, awaiting a brutal execution, he found solace in philosophical ... Show More
42m 20s
Aug 2023
How philosophy got lost | Slavoj Zizek
Should we seek to fulfill our needs with multiple partners? Does dissecting a rat brain count as philosophy? Are we entering the age of corporate authoritarianism? Listen as Zizek guides us through these and other major questions of our time. Looking for a link we mentioned? It's ... Show More
37m 9s
Jan 2021
David Bather Woods on Schopenhauer on Compassion
Arthur Schopenhauer is best known for the deep pessimism of his book The World as Will and Representation. Here we focus on a slightly less pessimistic aspect of his philosophy: his views on compassion. Very unusually for an early nineteenth century thinker, he was influenced her ... Show More
24m 6s
Feb 2022
German Philosophy: Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
In this episode, Alyson and Breht introduce, teach, and discuss the philosphy of two giants in western philosophy: Arthur Schopenhaur and Friedrich Nietzsche.  They discuss their respective philosophies, how they relate, how they differ, the subsequent thinkers and movements they ... Show More
2h 9m
Mar 2022
The Philosophers: Resisting despair
Sean Illing talks with author and professor Robert Zaretsky about the French philosopher, novelist, and journalist Albert Camus (1913–1960). Though Camus might be best known for his novel The Stranger, Sean and Prof. Zaretsky explore the ideas contained in his philosophical essay ... Show More
56m 48s