Happiness and Schopenhauer’s philosophy of life

John Vespasian explains that Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) had no problem to accept that he was an eccentric. In fact, he considered it a privilege to be categorised as an eccentric. He considered it a confirmation of the originality of his ideas. Schopenhauer’s key contribution to philosophy is the theory of the will, that is, the belief that the will (“life force”) exerts a strong influence on all living creatures. The will drives them at the same time towards survival, reproduction and pleasure, but without any consideration of cost and long-term consequences. By creating the theory of the will, Schopenhauer set himself apart from other philosophers, especially from Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). Kant and Hegel had placed philosophy on an idealistic path by focusing on epistemology and proposing vague abstractions for defining morality. Schopenhauer rebelled against those vague abstractions that have no connection to reality; he simply pointed out that Kant’s “categorical imperative” and Hegel’s “absolute spirit” generate confusion and fail to supply practical guidance for deciding on everyday matters. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/happiness-and-schopenhauers-philosophy-of-life/