Analysis of Schopenhauer’s philosophy of life

Although his lifestyle was unpretentious, modesty was not a characteristic of Arthur #schopenhauer (1788–1860). He did not hide that he regarded himself as a genius. He considered other philosophers, with few exceptions, as misguided fools. Why did Schopenhauer consider himself a genius? Surely not because of his productivity. In terms of output, he was not extraordinarily prolific, especially if compared with #plato and Aristotle. Schopenhauer only wrote three sizeable books: “About the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason” (1814), “The world as will and representation” (1818), and “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851). He also wrote a few minor works, but I know many intellectuals far more prolific than Schopenhauer. His claim to genius rests on the quality of his #philosophical insights, not on the size of his literary output. Talented people, he said, can achieve targets that no one else can hit, but only geniuses can hit targets that no one else can conceive. Schopenhauer placed himself amongst the geniuses because of the depth of his insights. His theory of the will (“life force”) is based on widely observable facts, but nobody so far had put them together and drawn #universal conclusions. His #philosophy of life rests on the idea that the will drives all living creatures, relentlessly and inexorably, towards survival, reproduction, and the search for short-term pleasure. The idea is straightforward, but the consequences are earth-shattering. First of all, Schopenhauer contested the belief that everyone is seeking to further his own self-interest. That’s obviously not true, argued Schopenhauer, because history offers innumerable examples of individuals who make foolish #decisions and harm themselves. Think for instance of overweight individuals. Do you think that they have never heard that excessive weight is unhealthy? Of course they have. Of course they know the truth. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/analysis-of-schopenhauers-philosophy-of-life/