SCHOPENHAUER
BY MARGRIETA BEER, M.A.
LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK
67 LONG ACRE, W.C., AND EDINBURGH
NEW YORK: DODGE PUBLISHING CO.
CONTENTS
CHAP.
INTRODUCTION
I. SCHOPENHAUER'S LIFE
II. PESSIMISM
III. ART
IV. VIRTUE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
INTRODUCTION
Schopenhauer differs from most other philosophers inthat he has influenced not only the development of thehistory of thought, the course along which modernphilosophy has proceeded, but in that his views havebeen welcomed as an inspiration, accepted almost inthe spirit of a religious faith by workers in quite otherdepartments of life.
No philosopher has so directly touched and influencedthe great art movements of modern times. It is nownearly one hundred years since the publication of hisgreatest work, and his philosophy is a more potent andvitalising force to-day than in his own lifetime. It hasbeen a source of inspiration to artists and has directlystimulated their creative activity, probably more thanany other abstract system has ever done.
Poetry has always been influenced subtly byphilosophy. Spenser and Shelley are imbued through andthrough with the doctrines of Plato. Goethe wrotesome of his finest work under the spell of Spinoza, andsome of Wordsworth's deepest experiences wereinterpreted to him through the ideas of Kant. It is to allartists, but especially to musicians, that Schopenhauermakes his most intimate appeal. For in his systemmusic plays a strangely important part, above and apart{8}from all the other arts. In analysing its spiritualcharacter, he endows it with mystic significance. Onefamous instance of this influence is that of Wagner.His acquaintance with Schopenhauer's philosophymarked a turning-point in his artistic life. It gave atremendous stimulus to his musical productivity, andwhile under its influence he composed his greatestworks.
Schopenhauer's system expresses, according to hisown statement, only a single thought, viewed indifferent aspects. He considers it from the metaphysical,æsthetic, and ethical points of view. This fundamentalthought, which lies at the root of his entire philosophy,is concerned with the significance of the will. The willalone gives the key to the understanding of man'sexistence. Every force in nature is to be regarded aswill, and the inner reality of the universe is to be foundonly in will.
While it is especially to those who are concernedwith the problems arising out of the function andsignificance of art that Schopenhauer offers such fruitfuland fascinating suggestions, the other aspects of hissystem offer solutions in the sphere of ethics andmetaphysics of almost equally vital importance. Hisinsistence on the significance of instinct and intuitionin all the lower and higher forms of life is of greatimportance in the history of philosophy. It is an aspectof the subject which until later times had been stra