Schopenhauer’s biography (4 of 5): the years of disappointing success

Even for a genius like Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860), it’s far from self-evident to define success; the feeling of achievement will wane fairly quickly if people are admiring you for reasons that have little to do with your life’s purpose. John Vespasian explains that Schopenhauer started to experience success in 1830. He was already forty-two years old and had spent decades in obscurity, despite his remarkable work. As of 1830, universities and other institutions started to invite Schopenhauer to give lectures, and journalists published some favourable articles about him. The articles did not clearly describe his philosophy, but at least, they made people curious. Unfortunately, the truth is that, by 1830, only a few hundred people had read Schopenhauer’s masterpiece, “The world as will and representation.” Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/schopenhauers-biography-disappointing-success/