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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

The Pessimism of Arthur Schopenhauer

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The Pessimism of
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Arthur
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Schopenhauer
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Arthur Schopenhauer
(1788-1860)
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To get at the root of the personality of Arthur Schopenhauer all you have to do is listen to the following audio files concerning his views on pessimism. He covers all the bases and, upon listening to these files, one becomes immediately associated with the philosopher's general mental condition.
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I would describe that condition as one of pragmatism and a genuine criticism of the system. He does not mince words and his views on the world rather match my own. The world is a cruel place and man is a creature that was planted upon this earth ( or developed as a function of nature ) and his business is to survive and not much more. Man is a never-satisfied creature and is constantly trying to serve his will or his inner being. And, the point of the whole exercise is that this will is never satisfied and that is because of the general make up of man himself. Man does not know who he is or where he is going and he is constantly on the hunt for meaning. There is no god and man has no god; he is left alone to survive and when he dies there is nothing more. Maybe this feature of life explains the actions of man and his behavior and outlook on life. And, not so indirectly, it explains the behavior of Schopenhauer as well.
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Schopenhauer takes time out to criticize the attitudes of his fellows and always finds time to put women in their place; he was not an admirer of women and their place in society after all. Misogyny and Arthur Schopenhauer go hand in hand and the man is never afraid to criticize women and explain for us what he thinks their role in society is and should be. More on women below.
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For me, Schopenhauer is a man worth listening to. His pessimism is a breath of fresh air because because he characterizes life as it is, and is crtitical of its pretensions; what it is pretended to be or how it is organized. He is rational and he is critical all in the same breath. I find nothing in his words that offend me greatly, except perhaps his rather hard description of women. Schopenhauer was a bachelor with a chip on his shoulder ( or so it would seem ) but, that should not give him license to criticize women the way he does. I think he could have taken time out to be a little more diplomatic in this regard. Women, after all are part of the human race. I do not think we should be in the business of subjugating them or exploiting them, but appreciating them instead. I am a bachelor myself, and I find nothing offensive about women at all. In fact, as a group, I rather like them. And, if the right one came along, i.e., that one special female who actually understands me and appreciates me, well, I might even get married to that person. But, these kinds of things are the business of the gods and not us mere mortals. I hope Mr. Schopenhauer is not offended by these remarks and will not hold them against me as form of blasphemy or the like. But, at any rate, any man who played the flute everyday and kept a couple of puppies as friends can't be all that bad.
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Pessimism audio files:
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Cataloged on February 05, 2007
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All free files found below:
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LibriVox
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A good overview of Schopenhauer ( you tube )
See Section One:
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The Philosophy of
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Arthur Schopenhauer:
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in....
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The Giants of Philosophy
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Reading and listening links:
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