Schopenhauer on happiness

The life and works of Arthur #schopenhauer (1788-1860) are giving us crucial insights on how to achieve happiness. To this end, he devoted years to studying Western and Eastern thinkers and compiling their best recommendations. Then he put them into practice and recorded what works and what doesn’t. Schopenhauer regarded the achievement of #happiness as a sequence of steps. The very first step consists of steering away from disaster. You absolutely want to avoid mistakes that cause severe harm to yourself and other people. How do you prevent or minimise large mistakes? By getting familiar with the theory of the will (“life force”) and adopting countermeasures to protect yourself. According to Schopenhauer, the will constitutes the largest obstacle to human happiness. Why? Because it prompts people to take short-sighted actions in the pursuit of pleasure. Thereby they expose themselves to high risks and forfeit their chances of a solid future. #schopenhauer outlined his philosophy in two books: “About the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason” (1814) and “The world as will and representation” (1818). In his later essays “Parerga and Paralipomena” (1851), he provides advice based on his philosophy. The theory of the will is Schopenhauer’s key contribution to the history of philosophy; he sustained that the will prevents us from attaining #happiness because it drives us to chase one goal after another, endlessly and without limit. It pushes us forward without paying attention to risks, costs and feasibility. The very first step to happiness, argued Schopenhauer, is to take control of your life. Don’t allow the will to push you in the wrong direction. Don’t allow it to drive you always further and further, until you eventually drop dead from exhaustion. According to Schopenhauer, we can increase our chances of happiness if we avoid excessive risk, exercise #selfdiscipline and make rational decisions. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/schopenhauer-on-happiness/