28th
Arthur Schopenhauer.
Recently, I have been reading the work of Arthur Schopenhauer for my 19th Century Philosophy and Music course. Philosophy has not concerned me much in the past, but after starting this course I have found it to be interesting. Lately, I have been trying to figure out where my personal philosophy lies. Although I didn’t have any firm views layed out in my mind; I think in the past I have been very idealistic, thinking that rationallity is the guide for existence. Yet Schopenhauer writes that the will, an irrational force based in struggle and desire, drives the exisistence man. Additionally, he writes that will is the “thing in itself” outside of the world that we perceive. This definitely shattered my brain to an extent, after reading some of his arguments. His writing is very convincing, but I don’t want to believe it. Yet I can’t help but relate to a lot of his arguments. Previous to Schopenhauer I read some work of Hegel, an idealist. I find Schopenhauer much more convincing than Hegel. Treating the man as an irrational being at his core is something I never thought about, but I’ve seen it in myself and others.
