← Parerga and Paralipomena / Parerga und Paralipomena← Arthur Schopenhauer

Essays and Aphorisms

LanguageEnglish
Year1973
Avg Rating5.0 ★
PublisherPenguin
Pages240
ISBN978-0140442274
Essays and Aphorisms

One of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century, Schopenhauer (1788-1860) believed that human action is determined not by reason but by 'will' - the blind and irrational desire for physical existence. This selection of his writings on religion, ethics, politics, women, suicide, books and many other themes is taken from Schopenhauer's last work, Parerga and Paralipomena, which he published in 1851. These pieces depict humanity as locked in a struggle beyond good and evil, and each individual absolutely free within a Godless world, in which art, morality and self-awareness are our only salvation. This innovative - and pessimistic - view has proved powerfully influential upon philosophy and art, directly affecting the work of Nietzsche, Wittgenstein and Wagner among others.

— Google Books

This is translation of a selection of writing on various topics taken from Schopenhauer's "Parerga and Paralipomena." See Table of Contents for more information.

▶ Expand Table of Contents

CONTENTS Introduction 9 ESSAYS On the Suffering of the World 41 On the Vanity of Existence 51 On the Antithesis of Thing in Itself and Appearance 55 On Affirmation and Denial of the Will to Live 61 On the Indestructibility of our Essential Being by Death 66 On Suicide 77 On Women 80 On Thinking for Yourself 89 On Religion: a Dialogue 95 APHORISMS On Philosophy and the Intellect 117 On Ethics 133 On Law and Politics 148 On Aesthetics 155 On Psychology 166 On Religion 180 On Books and Writing 198 On Various Subjects 212 List of Correspondences 237 Chronology 239 Further Reading 242

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