Schopenhauer and the problem of metaphysics: Critical reflections on Rudolf Matter's interpretation (original) (raw)
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Schopenhauer's Contraction of Reason: Clarifying Kant and Undoing German Idealism
Kantian Review, 2012
Schopenhauer's claim that the essence of the world consists in Wille encounters well-known difficulties. Of particular importance is the conflict of this metaphysical claim with his restrictive account of conceptuality. This paper attempts to make sense of Schopenhauer's position by restoring him to the context of post-Kantian debate, with special attention to the early notebooks and Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. On the reconstruction suggested here, Schopenhauer's philosophical project should be understood in light of his rejection of post-Kantian metaphilosophy and his opposition to German Idealism.
Schopenhauer's Metaphysics of Will
2017
This thesis is a detailed examination on Schopenhauer’s metaphysics of will. I first present the inconsistencies in Schopenhauer’s philosophy and point to the problems related to his metaphysical claims. I then demonstrate an alternative reading of Schopenhauer’s philosophy, focusing on its two characteristics: its contraction of reason and its phenomenological emphasis. I concede that Schopenhauer’s philosophy is burdened with the tension between his adaptation of Kant’s epistemology and his ambitious metaphysical goal to break away from the Kantian tradition. However, these inconsistencies and problems do not render Schopenhauer’s philosophy valueless. In contrary, they open up possibilities for Schopenhauer to address another arena of philosophy that Kant does not pay attention to, that is, human embodiment and human agency. Understanding Schopenhauer’s theories on this topic sheds great light upon his metaphysical project as a whole.
Schopenhauer's World: The System of The World as Will and Presentation I
Schopenhaueriana. Revista española de estudios sobre Schopenhauer, 2017
In recent years, the research on Schopenhauer has shown a change in the interpretation of his main work, The World as Will and Presentation, from (1) a normative and linear instruction which guides the reader from idealism to mysticism, pessimism and nothingness to (2) value-free and independent descriptions of the world with all phenomena (like idealism, mysticism, nothingness etc.) in it. Thus Schopenhauer’s main work has become an empirical or baconian approach—something like a «philosophical cosmography»—. this fundamentalchange of interpretation radically puts into question what Schopenhauer means by characterizing his main work as an «organic system». The present paper attempts to give an answer to this question, reviewing the self-reflexive, methodological and metaphilosophical hints which Schopenhauer gives in the first volume of his «World» («as Will and Presentation»).
The two souls of Schopenhauerism : analysis of new historiographical categories
2021
The Wirkungsgeschichte of Schopenhauerism is a complex mixture of events, encounters, influences and transformations. In order to orient oneself concerning such an articulated phenomenon, it is necessary to have valid hermeneutical tools at hand. In this contribution, I propose a reading of the Wirkungsgeschichte of Schopenhauerism through new and effective historiographical categories that resulted from the research conducted by the Interdepartmental Research Centre on Arthur Schopenhauer and his School at the University of Salento. On the one hand, I will refer to Domenico Fazio’s studies on the Schopenhauer-Schule and, on the other, to Fabio Ciracì’s research on the reception of Schopenhauer’s philosophy in Italy. This approach will reveal how the formulation of the socalled “two souls” of Schopenhauerism, the romantic and the illuministic, allows us to unravel the multifaceted panorama of the Wirkungsgeschichte of Schopenhauerian philosophy, in line with the subdivision within t...
ON THE WILL IN NATURE (Posthumous Edition) - by Arthur Schopenhauer, 2001
This is a re-edited version of the original article on Schopenhauer's philosophy published in the 'Westminster Review' in 1853. The author of 'Iconoclasm in German Philosophy' has read a number of works by Arthur Schopenhauer - listed at the top of the article - which has enabled him to appreciate the Weltanschuung of this philosophical author. The article is an excellent achievement in encapsulating the complex thought of a deep thinker in effective English prose. The article is famous for the fact that it was single-handedly responsible for kickstarting the appreciation of Schopenhauer's philosophy in the United Kingdom, at a time when he had already become famous in Germany. Interestingly though, it took forty years for Schopenhauer (1788-1860) to gain fame in his own country and only during the last decade of his life did he become a widely appreciated author. In his own view this was because his own philosophy was at odds with the reigning philosophy of his day - Hegelianism - and he was never ready to dilute or deform his own thought-system in order to conform with the 'State Philosophy', as he called it. This article is an eye-opener and it should be borne in mind that Schopenhauer was a great Anglophile - he had attended public school in England (albeit briefly), read the English newspapers daily and held up as the finest master of prose the philosopher David Hume - and English fame was something that was a great honour for him.
Oxford Handbook of Nietzsche, 2020
and Keywords The chapter offers a critical analysis of Nietzsche's objections to Schopenhauer's philoso phy. While the influence of Schopenhauer on Nietzsche is widely documented, the author's intention here is to ask how Schopenhauer might respond to Nietzsche's inter pretation of his philosophy and his critical challenges and hence, ultimately, to assess the force of Nietzsche's objections. The chapter considers Nietzsche's central challenge, be ginning with his account of Mitleid (compassion or pity) and, from there, opens out to the analysis of psychology, history, and the affirmation of life. It also considers two ways in which Nietzsche arguably steps out from under Schopenhauer's influence: his "historical philosophy" and his style or philosophical attitude.
A general summary of Schopenhauer's The World as Will and Representation and the relation it has to my personal interest in philosophy.