Jerrold Levinson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199206179
- eISBN:
- 9780191709982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199206179.003.0022
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This essay explores Schopenhauer's relationship to Kant, and stresses the extent to which the great pessimist's aesthetic philosophy relies on Kant's metaphysics even more than it does on Kant's ...
More
This essay explores Schopenhauer's relationship to Kant, and stresses the extent to which the great pessimist's aesthetic philosophy relies on Kant's metaphysics even more than it does on Kant's aesthetics. It highlights the breadth of Schopenhauer's vision of the role of art and of the liberating aesthetic experiences it makes possible. It addresses the puzzle of how the art of music — which according to Schopenhauer presents us with blind, ceaseless, and hateful willing in its most unvarnished form — can yet provide aesthetic experience of the highest order, justifying Schopenhauer's according to music the foremost position among the arts.Less
This essay explores Schopenhauer's relationship to Kant, and stresses the extent to which the great pessimist's aesthetic philosophy relies on Kant's metaphysics even more than it does on Kant's aesthetics. It highlights the breadth of Schopenhauer's vision of the role of art and of the liberating aesthetic experiences it makes possible. It addresses the puzzle of how the art of music — which according to Schopenhauer presents us with blind, ceaseless, and hateful willing in its most unvarnished form — can yet provide aesthetic experience of the highest order, justifying Schopenhauer's according to music the foremost position among the arts.
Robert G. Morrison
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198238652
- eISBN:
- 9780191679711
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198238652.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter traces the development of Nietzsche's thoughts on Buddhism. Nietzsche believed that the only acceptable response to nihilism was not the founding of a European Buddhism, but the creation ...
More
This chapter traces the development of Nietzsche's thoughts on Buddhism. Nietzsche believed that the only acceptable response to nihilism was not the founding of a European Buddhism, but the creation of a new vision of man and existence with values not founded on some fictitious transcendental world or being, but in life as it is in the natural world, which is man's only world. Thus, the possible advent of a European form of Buddhism was a danger that would obscure the sight of that open sea, and was something he therefore wished to avoid. Nevertheless, Buddhism might have a purpose: ‘a European Buddhism might perhaps be indispensable’ as one of the ‘many types of philosophy which need to be taught…as a hammer’. The metaphor of the hammer, however, does not imply destruction but the hammer's use as a means of ‘sounding out’, as when one strikes a bell to examine whether it rings true or is flawed. The implication here is that the flawed would be those who were attracted to Buddhism.Less
This chapter traces the development of Nietzsche's thoughts on Buddhism. Nietzsche believed that the only acceptable response to nihilism was not the founding of a European Buddhism, but the creation of a new vision of man and existence with values not founded on some fictitious transcendental world or being, but in life as it is in the natural world, which is man's only world. Thus, the possible advent of a European form of Buddhism was a danger that would obscure the sight of that open sea, and was something he therefore wished to avoid. Nevertheless, Buddhism might have a purpose: ‘a European Buddhism might perhaps be indispensable’ as one of the ‘many types of philosophy which need to be taught…as a hammer’. The metaphor of the hammer, however, does not imply destruction but the hammer's use as a means of ‘sounding out’, as when one strikes a bell to examine whether it rings true or is flawed. The implication here is that the flawed would be those who were attracted to Buddhism.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250036
- eISBN:
- 9780191597817
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250037.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Centres on Schopenhauer's conception of the self and how it relates to the world, primarily dealing with his book The World as Will and Representation. It locates Schopenhauer in relation to Kant, of ...
More
Centres on Schopenhauer's conception of the self and how it relates to the world, primarily dealing with his book The World as Will and Representation. It locates Schopenhauer in relation to Kant, of whom he was both a follower and a critic. While accepting Kant's transcendental idealism and the associated notion of the ‘I’ as a pure subject of knowledge distinct from the world of objects, Schopenhauer undercuts this notion with a conception of the self as will. The self as will is primarily active, embodied, organic, and manifests pre‐rational ends and drives. The book shows how Schopenhauer arrives at a position in which idealism and materialism are correlative positions, but where a metaphysical account of the thing in itself as will takes primacy. It explores Schopenhauer's arguments that willing is identical with acting, and that at the level of individual willing there is no freedom. The book assesses the relevance of Schopenhauer's conception of the self to recent philosophical debates, and explores its influence on Wittgenstein and on Nietzsche.Less
Centres on Schopenhauer's conception of the self and how it relates to the world, primarily dealing with his book The World as Will and Representation. It locates Schopenhauer in relation to Kant, of whom he was both a follower and a critic. While accepting Kant's transcendental idealism and the associated notion of the ‘I’ as a pure subject of knowledge distinct from the world of objects, Schopenhauer undercuts this notion with a conception of the self as will. The self as will is primarily active, embodied, organic, and manifests pre‐rational ends and drives. The book shows how Schopenhauer arrives at a position in which idealism and materialism are correlative positions, but where a metaphysical account of the thing in itself as will takes primacy. It explores Schopenhauer's arguments that willing is identical with acting, and that at the level of individual willing there is no freedom. The book assesses the relevance of Schopenhauer's conception of the self to recent philosophical debates, and explores its influence on Wittgenstein and on Nietzsche.
Bryan Magee
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198237228
- eISBN:
- 9780191706233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237227.003.0016
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Schopenhauer wrote candidly about sex at a time when almost nobody did. He saw consideration of it as the means of reproduction whereby human beings come into existence as inescapable for ...
More
Schopenhauer wrote candidly about sex at a time when almost nobody did. He saw consideration of it as the means of reproduction whereby human beings come into existence as inescapable for metaphysics, indeed for serious thinking. He conjectured that homosexual impulses were implanted by nature in adolescent and elderly males because, although they have sexual urges and can procreate, it is undesirable that they should do so, and therefore the urge is diverted. This, he thinks, is why homosexual activity has been widespread in all known societies. The manner in which he writes about it suggests that he had felt homosexual impulses himself but had not given way to them.Less
Schopenhauer wrote candidly about sex at a time when almost nobody did. He saw consideration of it as the means of reproduction whereby human beings come into existence as inescapable for metaphysics, indeed for serious thinking. He conjectured that homosexual impulses were implanted by nature in adolescent and elderly males because, although they have sexual urges and can procreate, it is undesirable that they should do so, and therefore the urge is diverted. This, he thinks, is why homosexual activity has been widespread in all known societies. The manner in which he writes about it suggests that he had felt homosexual impulses himself but had not given way to them.
Bryan Magee
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198237228
- eISBN:
- 9780191706233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237227.003.0019
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Dylan Thomas made his name with one particular poem, ‘The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower’, which he wrote and published in his teens. Not only the theme but also the imagery in ...
More
Dylan Thomas made his name with one particular poem, ‘The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower’, which he wrote and published in his teens. Not only the theme but also the imagery in detail is too close to certain passages in Schopenhauer for a coincidence to be likely. It is more probable that there was some influence. This is made more likely by the fact that there are good reasons to believe that the young Thomas had read a book called Thomas Hardy's Universe, by Ernest Brennecke, which contains many quotations from Schopenhauer, including, in its first chapter, the one closest to Thomas's poem.Less
Dylan Thomas made his name with one particular poem, ‘The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower’, which he wrote and published in his teens. Not only the theme but also the imagery in detail is too close to certain passages in Schopenhauer for a coincidence to be likely. It is more probable that there was some influence. This is made more likely by the fact that there are good reasons to believe that the young Thomas had read a book called Thomas Hardy's Universe, by Ernest Brennecke, which contains many quotations from Schopenhauer, including, in its first chapter, the one closest to Thomas's poem.
Ara Paul Barsam
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195329551
- eISBN:
- 9780199870110
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329551.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
It has been said that there is no ethics without meta‐ethics: too true, Schweitzer would say. The philosophical ground‐plan against which Schweitzer operates — particularly Schopenhauer's and ...
More
It has been said that there is no ethics without meta‐ethics: too true, Schweitzer would say. The philosophical ground‐plan against which Schweitzer operates — particularly Schopenhauer's and Nietzsche's metaphysics of the “will” — is explored in this chapter in order to understand Schweitzer's particular characterization of life as the “will‐to‐live”. Moreover, whereas previous commentators have focused on reverence for life as a philosophical ethic located in that tradition, this Chapter demonstrates that Schweitzer's theology provides the hitherto undiscerned foundation for his “ethical mysticism”.Less
It has been said that there is no ethics without meta‐ethics: too true, Schweitzer would say. The philosophical ground‐plan against which Schweitzer operates — particularly Schopenhauer's and Nietzsche's metaphysics of the “will” — is explored in this chapter in order to understand Schweitzer's particular characterization of life as the “will‐to‐live”. Moreover, whereas previous commentators have focused on reverence for life as a philosophical ethic located in that tradition, this Chapter demonstrates that Schweitzer's theology provides the hitherto undiscerned foundation for his “ethical mysticism”.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279692
- eISBN:
- 9780191707407
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279692.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This book presents a full commentary on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality and combines close reading of key passages with an overview of Nietzsche's wider aims. It argues that Nietzsche's ...
More
This book presents a full commentary on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality and combines close reading of key passages with an overview of Nietzsche's wider aims. It argues that Nietzsche's practice of genealogy pursues psychological and historical truths concerning the origins of modern moral values, but also emphasizes the significance of his rhetorical methods as an instrument of persuasion. Nietzsche's outlook is broadly one of naturalism, but he is critical of typical scientific and philosophical methods for their advocacy of impersonality and suppression of the affects. Nietzsche's principal opponents are Schopenhauer and Paul Rée, both of whom account for morality in terms of selflessness. Nietzsche believes that our allegiance to a post-Christian morality that centres around selflessness, compassion, guilt, and denial of the instincts is not primarily rational but affective: underlying feelings, often ambivalent and poorly grasped in conscious thought, explain our moral beliefs. The Genealogy is designed to detach the reader from his or her allegiance to morality and prepare for the possibility of new values. According to Nietzsche's ‘perspectivism’, this book argues that one can best understand a topic such as morality through allowing as many of one's feelings as possible to speak about it. And Nietzsche's further aim is to enable us to ‘feel differently’: to this end his provocation of the reader's affects both helps us grasp the affective origins of our attitudes and prepares the way for healthier values such as the affirmation of life and the self-satisfaction to be attained by ‘giving style to one's character’.Less
This book presents a full commentary on Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morality and combines close reading of key passages with an overview of Nietzsche's wider aims. It argues that Nietzsche's practice of genealogy pursues psychological and historical truths concerning the origins of modern moral values, but also emphasizes the significance of his rhetorical methods as an instrument of persuasion. Nietzsche's outlook is broadly one of naturalism, but he is critical of typical scientific and philosophical methods for their advocacy of impersonality and suppression of the affects. Nietzsche's principal opponents are Schopenhauer and Paul Rée, both of whom account for morality in terms of selflessness. Nietzsche believes that our allegiance to a post-Christian morality that centres around selflessness, compassion, guilt, and denial of the instincts is not primarily rational but affective: underlying feelings, often ambivalent and poorly grasped in conscious thought, explain our moral beliefs. The Genealogy is designed to detach the reader from his or her allegiance to morality and prepare for the possibility of new values. According to Nietzsche's ‘perspectivism’, this book argues that one can best understand a topic such as morality through allowing as many of one's feelings as possible to speak about it. And Nietzsche's further aim is to enable us to ‘feel differently’: to this end his provocation of the reader's affects both helps us grasp the affective origins of our attitudes and prepares the way for healthier values such as the affirmation of life and the self-satisfaction to be attained by ‘giving style to one's character’.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279692
- eISBN:
- 9780191707407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279692.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This opening chapter introduces Nietzsche's primary aims: genealogy and revaluation of values. Genealogy is the attempt to explain current moral feelings and beliefs by tracing their origins to ...
More
This opening chapter introduces Nietzsche's primary aims: genealogy and revaluation of values. Genealogy is the attempt to explain current moral feelings and beliefs by tracing their origins to generic psychological states — typically drives and affects — in past human beings that caused our present attitudes via forms of cultural mediation. The values Nietzsche wishes to call into question centre around forms of selflessness. It is argued that the polemic of the Genealogy attacks not only morality, but his two named opponents in the Preface of the Genealogy, Schopenhauer and Rée, for their construal of morality as selflessness. Genealogy is instrumental towards a revaluation of values, in which positive value would cease to be assigned to being ‘unegoistic’. Both genealogy and revaluation presuppose arousal of affects, and the prevailing conception of philosophy as dispassionate and impersonal is, for Nietzsche, another manifestation of the promotion of selflessness that he finds in morality.Less
This opening chapter introduces Nietzsche's primary aims: genealogy and revaluation of values. Genealogy is the attempt to explain current moral feelings and beliefs by tracing their origins to generic psychological states — typically drives and affects — in past human beings that caused our present attitudes via forms of cultural mediation. The values Nietzsche wishes to call into question centre around forms of selflessness. It is argued that the polemic of the Genealogy attacks not only morality, but his two named opponents in the Preface of the Genealogy, Schopenhauer and Rée, for their construal of morality as selflessness. Genealogy is instrumental towards a revaluation of values, in which positive value would cease to be assigned to being ‘unegoistic’. Both genealogy and revaluation presuppose arousal of affects, and the prevailing conception of philosophy as dispassionate and impersonal is, for Nietzsche, another manifestation of the promotion of selflessness that he finds in morality.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279692
- eISBN:
- 9780191707407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279692.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter gives a section-by-section commentary on the Preface to the Genealogy. It includes comment on Nietzsche's opening theme of the impossibility of self-knowledge among ‘we knowers’, arguing ...
More
This chapter gives a section-by-section commentary on the Preface to the Genealogy. It includes comment on Nietzsche's opening theme of the impossibility of self-knowledge among ‘we knowers’, arguing that the group in question here is philosophers or scholars. The use of various rhetorical devices is examined — selective autobiography to define his position as unique and consistent, irony, metaphor, heightened emotional tone, the alleged ‘unreadability’ of his writings. The chapter highlights conceptions of the self that Nietzsche alludes to, his statement of the origins and purposes of his book — investigating the origins of our morality and preparing to call them into question in the interests of furthering the flourishing of humanity — and provides some background orientation on the disagreements with Schopenhauer and Rée that Nietzsche especially mentions. Selflessness emerges as the definitive feature of the morality Nietzsche attacks.Less
This chapter gives a section-by-section commentary on the Preface to the Genealogy. It includes comment on Nietzsche's opening theme of the impossibility of self-knowledge among ‘we knowers’, arguing that the group in question here is philosophers or scholars. The use of various rhetorical devices is examined — selective autobiography to define his position as unique and consistent, irony, metaphor, heightened emotional tone, the alleged ‘unreadability’ of his writings. The chapter highlights conceptions of the self that Nietzsche alludes to, his statement of the origins and purposes of his book — investigating the origins of our morality and preparing to call them into question in the interests of furthering the flourishing of humanity — and provides some background orientation on the disagreements with Schopenhauer and Rée that Nietzsche especially mentions. Selflessness emerges as the definitive feature of the morality Nietzsche attacks.
Christopher Janaway
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199279692
- eISBN:
- 9780191707407
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279692.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Part of Nietzsche's discussion of the ascetic ideal in Genealogy III concerns aesthetic experience. This chapter first examines Nietzsche's criticisms of Kant for conceiving of beauty from the ...
More
Part of Nietzsche's discussion of the ascetic ideal in Genealogy III concerns aesthetic experience. This chapter first examines Nietzsche's criticisms of Kant for conceiving of beauty from the passive spectator's point of view and in terms of disinterestedness. Nietzsche diagnoses all philosophers as having a propensity towards the ascetic, and uses Schopenhauer as an illustration: Schopenhauer's conception of aesthetic experience as a pure will-lessness was motivated by his own wish to escape from tormenting sexual desire. Schopenhauer's aesthetic theory provides the model for Nietzsche's discussion of pure, disinterested objectivity in Genealogy III, 12. Nietzsche argues that such pure objectivity is an impossibility, and that its motivation is very much ‘interested’. Nietzsche can also be seen here as turning Schopenhauer's doctrine of the primacy of the will over the intellect against Schopenhauer.Less
Part of Nietzsche's discussion of the ascetic ideal in Genealogy III concerns aesthetic experience. This chapter first examines Nietzsche's criticisms of Kant for conceiving of beauty from the passive spectator's point of view and in terms of disinterestedness. Nietzsche diagnoses all philosophers as having a propensity towards the ascetic, and uses Schopenhauer as an illustration: Schopenhauer's conception of aesthetic experience as a pure will-lessness was motivated by his own wish to escape from tormenting sexual desire. Schopenhauer's aesthetic theory provides the model for Nietzsche's discussion of pure, disinterested objectivity in Genealogy III, 12. Nietzsche argues that such pure objectivity is an impossibility, and that its motivation is very much ‘interested’. Nietzsche can also be seen here as turning Schopenhauer's doctrine of the primacy of the will over the intellect against Schopenhauer.
Garry L. Hagberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199234226
- eISBN:
- 9780191715440
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234226.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language
This chapter covers the early influence on Wittgenstein's thought concerning selfhood of Schopenhauer. It details the picture of philosophical solipsism and the grammar of the ‘I’, what Wittgenstein ...
More
This chapter covers the early influence on Wittgenstein's thought concerning selfhood of Schopenhauer. It details the picture of philosophical solipsism and the grammar of the ‘I’, what Wittgenstein called ‘the inner picture’ and its metaphysical presuppositions concerning privacy, and the value of turning to cases to see how the concept of privacy actually functions. Cases from Rousseau, Frederick Douglass, Jane Addams, Ellen Glasgow, Siegfried Sassoon, and others, as adapted from philosophically helpful discussions by Jill Kerr Conway are given. Genuine versus philosophically-misled wonder concerning what is going on behind a facial expression is discussed.Less
This chapter covers the early influence on Wittgenstein's thought concerning selfhood of Schopenhauer. It details the picture of philosophical solipsism and the grammar of the ‘I’, what Wittgenstein called ‘the inner picture’ and its metaphysical presuppositions concerning privacy, and the value of turning to cases to see how the concept of privacy actually functions. Cases from Rousseau, Frederick Douglass, Jane Addams, Ellen Glasgow, Siegfried Sassoon, and others, as adapted from philosophically helpful discussions by Jill Kerr Conway are given. Genuine versus philosophically-misled wonder concerning what is going on behind a facial expression is discussed.
Sara Crangle
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748640850
- eISBN:
- 9780748651955
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748640850.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
Exploring a variety of everyday human longings as they arise in modernist fiction, this book poses a direct challenge to psychoanalytic criticism that characterises desire as sexual or powerful in ...
More
Exploring a variety of everyday human longings as they arise in modernist fiction, this book poses a direct challenge to psychoanalytic criticism that characterises desire as sexual or powerful in nature. Using continental philosophy as its framework, it contends that human longings are as endless in kind as they are in manifestation. As philosophy moved into the twentieth century, there was a discernible shift in emphasis from individual wilfulness to the role of the other in desire. In examining this historical trajectory, the book considers Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Heidegger, but relies primarily on the thinking of Emmanuel Levinas, who radically inverts the traditional philosophical pursuit of subjective autonomy by arguing that the self is defined by endless longing for the other. In an extension of Levinasian theory, it claims that desire-driven shifts from self to other can be located in modernist literature. The banal longings examined here lie within the poles of sexuality and power, and include desires to know and escape boredom, as well as risibility and anticipation. Authors studied include Joyce, Woolf, Stein and Beckett, all of whom evince a discernible movement away from self-absorbed, grand narratives of desire towards other-based, evanescent longings throughout their careers.Less
Exploring a variety of everyday human longings as they arise in modernist fiction, this book poses a direct challenge to psychoanalytic criticism that characterises desire as sexual or powerful in nature. Using continental philosophy as its framework, it contends that human longings are as endless in kind as they are in manifestation. As philosophy moved into the twentieth century, there was a discernible shift in emphasis from individual wilfulness to the role of the other in desire. In examining this historical trajectory, the book considers Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Heidegger, but relies primarily on the thinking of Emmanuel Levinas, who radically inverts the traditional philosophical pursuit of subjective autonomy by arguing that the self is defined by endless longing for the other. In an extension of Levinasian theory, it claims that desire-driven shifts from self to other can be located in modernist literature. The banal longings examined here lie within the poles of sexuality and power, and include desires to know and escape boredom, as well as risibility and anticipation. Authors studied include Joyce, Woolf, Stein and Beckett, all of whom evince a discernible movement away from self-absorbed, grand narratives of desire towards other-based, evanescent longings throughout their careers.
Mike W. Martin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199845217
- eISBN:
- 9780199933068
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199845217.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, General
Is happiness compatible with suffering? The answer is complicated. Nothing can protect us from tragedies that destroy what we cherish most, and thereby undermine happiness. Yet much suffering can be ...
More
Is happiness compatible with suffering? The answer is complicated. Nothing can protect us from tragedies that destroy what we cherish most, and thereby undermine happiness. Yet much suffering can be integrated into happy lives, depending significantly on our attitudes. As is often said, suffering can deepen joy and meaning. Not surprising, philosophical perspectives on the value of suffering in good lives both reflect and shape conceptions of happiness. Examples include John Dewey, Jeremy Bentham, and Arthur Schopenhauer.Less
Is happiness compatible with suffering? The answer is complicated. Nothing can protect us from tragedies that destroy what we cherish most, and thereby undermine happiness. Yet much suffering can be integrated into happy lives, depending significantly on our attitudes. As is often said, suffering can deepen joy and meaning. Not surprising, philosophical perspectives on the value of suffering in good lives both reflect and shape conceptions of happiness. Examples include John Dewey, Jeremy Bentham, and Arthur Schopenhauer.
Kurt Flasch
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300204865
- eISBN:
- 9780300216370
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300204865.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This book offers a reappraisal of the life and legacy of Meister Eckhart, the medieval German theologian, philosopher, and alleged mystic who was active during the Avignon Papacy of the fourteenth ...
More
This book offers a reappraisal of the life and legacy of Meister Eckhart, the medieval German theologian, philosopher, and alleged mystic who was active during the Avignon Papacy of the fourteenth century and posthumously condemned as a heretic by Pope John XXII. Disputing his subject's frequent characterization as a hero of a modern, syncretic spirituality, the book attempts to free Eckhart from the “Mystical Flood” by inviting his readers to think along with Eckhart in a careful rereading of his Latin and German works. The text makes a powerful case for Eckhart's position as an important philosopher of the time rather than a mystic and casts new light on an important figure of the Middle Ages whose ideas attracted considerable attention from such diverse modern thinkers as Arthur Schopenhauer, Swami Vivekananda, D. T. Suzuki, Erich Fromm, and Jacques Derrida.Less
This book offers a reappraisal of the life and legacy of Meister Eckhart, the medieval German theologian, philosopher, and alleged mystic who was active during the Avignon Papacy of the fourteenth century and posthumously condemned as a heretic by Pope John XXII. Disputing his subject's frequent characterization as a hero of a modern, syncretic spirituality, the book attempts to free Eckhart from the “Mystical Flood” by inviting his readers to think along with Eckhart in a careful rereading of his Latin and German works. The text makes a powerful case for Eckhart's position as an important philosopher of the time rather than a mystic and casts new light on an important figure of the Middle Ages whose ideas attracted considerable attention from such diverse modern thinkers as Arthur Schopenhauer, Swami Vivekananda, D. T. Suzuki, Erich Fromm, and Jacques Derrida.
Henry E. Allison
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199647033
- eISBN:
- 9780191741166
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199647033.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This essay discusses the various conceptions of freedom to be found in Kant's texts, analyzes the connection between them and Kant's moral theory and epistemology, explores the contrast between the ...
More
This essay discusses the various conceptions of freedom to be found in Kant's texts, analyzes the connection between them and Kant's moral theory and epistemology, explores the contrast between the empirical and the intelligible character of the will, and examines Kant's controversial views on the relation between freedom and causal determinism. In addition, it frames Kant's account of free will historically in relation to the views of his immediate predecessors, who exerted the most influence on him, and his idealistic successors, who strongly criticized him but were greatly influenced by his views. The former group includes Leibniz, Wolff and Crusius, and the latter Fichte, Hegel, and Schopenhauer.Less
This essay discusses the various conceptions of freedom to be found in Kant's texts, analyzes the connection between them and Kant's moral theory and epistemology, explores the contrast between the empirical and the intelligible character of the will, and examines Kant's controversial views on the relation between freedom and causal determinism. In addition, it frames Kant's account of free will historically in relation to the views of his immediate predecessors, who exerted the most influence on him, and his idealistic successors, who strongly criticized him but were greatly influenced by his views. The former group includes Leibniz, Wolff and Crusius, and the latter Fichte, Hegel, and Schopenhauer.
Joshua Landy
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195188561
- eISBN:
- 9780199949458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195188561.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
How can we quiet the mind? How can we prevent it from endlessly worrying away at philosophical questions that (according to Beckett at least) serve only to keep us awake at night, with no hope of ...
More
How can we quiet the mind? How can we prevent it from endlessly worrying away at philosophical questions that (according to Beckett at least) serve only to keep us awake at night, with no hope of ever being resolved? Simply ignoring them is not an option, since they lurk around the corner of every decision; nor will argument suffice, argument being merely a continuation of philosophy. What we need, again, is not a theory but a method, one in which each claim is systematically juxtaposed against its opposite, together with evidence just compelling enough to allow the two of them to cancel each other out. It is this method that Beckett’s Trilogy—Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable—crucially offers its readers. A latter-day work of ancient skepticism, it begins from the same premise (intractability), aims at the same telos (ataraxia), and employs the same devices (antilogoi) along the way. What it provides, in the end, is not insight and not inspiration but the opportunity to detach ourselves from our desire for certainty and to achieve, for the first time, an enduring peace of mind.Less
How can we quiet the mind? How can we prevent it from endlessly worrying away at philosophical questions that (according to Beckett at least) serve only to keep us awake at night, with no hope of ever being resolved? Simply ignoring them is not an option, since they lurk around the corner of every decision; nor will argument suffice, argument being merely a continuation of philosophy. What we need, again, is not a theory but a method, one in which each claim is systematically juxtaposed against its opposite, together with evidence just compelling enough to allow the two of them to cancel each other out. It is this method that Beckett’s Trilogy—Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable—crucially offers its readers. A latter-day work of ancient skepticism, it begins from the same premise (intractability), aims at the same telos (ataraxia), and employs the same devices (antilogoi) along the way. What it provides, in the end, is not insight and not inspiration but the opportunity to detach ourselves from our desire for certainty and to achieve, for the first time, an enduring peace of mind.
Peter Kivy
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199562800
- eISBN:
- 9780191721298
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562800.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter explores the possibility of the kinds of narrative interpretation put on absolute music by Robinson, Maus, and Newcomb being offered as attempts to provide an explanation for the ...
More
This chapter explores the possibility of the kinds of narrative interpretation put on absolute music by Robinson, Maus, and Newcomb being offered as attempts to provide an explanation for the interest and pleasure that we take in absolute music. It argues that if they are so offered, they fail in their purpose. But one thing those failed answers to the failure of formalism have right, if indeed they were so intended: formalism's defenders have failed to give an adequate explanation for the deep interest and pleasure that absolute music, in the Western canon, provides to its devotees — interest and pleasure to such a degree that it emboldens them to put the masterpieces of the canon alongside those masterpieces of the great poets, novelists, painters, and sculptors, from antiquity to the present.Less
This chapter explores the possibility of the kinds of narrative interpretation put on absolute music by Robinson, Maus, and Newcomb being offered as attempts to provide an explanation for the interest and pleasure that we take in absolute music. It argues that if they are so offered, they fail in their purpose. But one thing those failed answers to the failure of formalism have right, if indeed they were so intended: formalism's defenders have failed to give an adequate explanation for the deep interest and pleasure that absolute music, in the Western canon, provides to its devotees — interest and pleasure to such a degree that it emboldens them to put the masterpieces of the canon alongside those masterpieces of the great poets, novelists, painters, and sculptors, from antiquity to the present.
Michael Gallope
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226483559
- eISBN:
- 9780226483726
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226483726.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Philosophy of Music
Deep Refrains: Music, Philosophy, and the Ineffable draws together the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, Vladimir Jankélévitch, Gilles Deleuze, and ...
More
Deep Refrains: Music, Philosophy, and the Ineffable draws together the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, Vladimir Jankélévitch, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari in order to revisit the age-old question of music’s ineffability from a modern perspective. For these nineteenth- and twentieth-century European philosophers, music’s ineffability is a complex phenomenon that engenders an intellectually productive sense of perplexity. Through careful examination of their historical contexts and philosophical orientations, close attention to their use of language, and new interpretations of musical compositions that proved influential for their work, Deep Refrains forges the first panoptic view of their writings on music. Gallope concludes that music’s ineffability is neither a conservative phenomenon nor a pious call to silence. Instead, these philosophers ask us to think through the ways in which music’s stunning force might address, in an ethical fashion, intricate philosophical questions specific to the modern world.Less
Deep Refrains: Music, Philosophy, and the Ineffable draws together the writings of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ernst Bloch, Theodor Adorno, Vladimir Jankélévitch, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari in order to revisit the age-old question of music’s ineffability from a modern perspective. For these nineteenth- and twentieth-century European philosophers, music’s ineffability is a complex phenomenon that engenders an intellectually productive sense of perplexity. Through careful examination of their historical contexts and philosophical orientations, close attention to their use of language, and new interpretations of musical compositions that proved influential for their work, Deep Refrains forges the first panoptic view of their writings on music. Gallope concludes that music’s ineffability is neither a conservative phenomenon nor a pious call to silence. Instead, these philosophers ask us to think through the ways in which music’s stunning force might address, in an ethical fashion, intricate philosophical questions specific to the modern world.
Bryan Magee
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198237228
- eISBN:
- 9780191706233
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198237227.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
There are unusual reasons why Schopenhauer's philosophy is important. Retaining from Kant the distinction between the noumenal and the phenomenal, he embraces the relevance of Eastern philosophy to ...
More
There are unusual reasons why Schopenhauer's philosophy is important. Retaining from Kant the distinction between the noumenal and the phenomenal, he embraces the relevance of Eastern philosophy to the former and that of empiricism to the latter. His ethics—unlike Kant's, which are based on reason—are based on compassion. So he alone among major Western philosophers takes genuine account of Buddhism, yet at the same time gives full weight to science. Areas outside philosophy in which his thought has been important include psychology and the arts. As well as being the first and greatest philosophical influence on both Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, he had comparable influence on Freud and Jung and affected the work of creative artists from Wagner to Tolstoy. The intellectual fashions of the twentieth century underestimated his work, and neglected his influence, but a reappraisal of both is now due. This book takes a fresh look at his work, and contains especially long discussions of his influence on Wittgenstein and Wagner.Less
There are unusual reasons why Schopenhauer's philosophy is important. Retaining from Kant the distinction between the noumenal and the phenomenal, he embraces the relevance of Eastern philosophy to the former and that of empiricism to the latter. His ethics—unlike Kant's, which are based on reason—are based on compassion. So he alone among major Western philosophers takes genuine account of Buddhism, yet at the same time gives full weight to science. Areas outside philosophy in which his thought has been important include psychology and the arts. As well as being the first and greatest philosophical influence on both Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, he had comparable influence on Freud and Jung and affected the work of creative artists from Wagner to Tolstoy. The intellectual fashions of the twentieth century underestimated his work, and neglected his influence, but a reappraisal of both is now due. This book takes a fresh look at his work, and contains especially long discussions of his influence on Wittgenstein and Wagner.
Frederick C. Beiser
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691163093
- eISBN:
- 9781400852536
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691163093.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter discusses the “identity crisis” suffered by philosophers beginning in the 1840s, the decade after Hegel's death. They could no longer define their discipline in the traditional terms ...
More
This chapter discusses the “identity crisis” suffered by philosophers beginning in the 1840s, the decade after Hegel's death. They could no longer define their discipline in the traditional terms widely accepted in the first decades of the nineteenth century. So they began to ask themselves some very hard questions. What is philosophy? What is its purpose? And how does it differ from the empirical sciences? The remainder of the chapter covers the sources of the crisis, Trendelenburg's philosophia perennis, philosophy as critique, Schopenhauer's revival of metaphysics, the rise and fall of the neo-Kantian ideal, Eduard von Hartmann's metaphysics of the sciences, and Wilhelm Dilthey's conception of philosophy as a worldview.Less
This chapter discusses the “identity crisis” suffered by philosophers beginning in the 1840s, the decade after Hegel's death. They could no longer define their discipline in the traditional terms widely accepted in the first decades of the nineteenth century. So they began to ask themselves some very hard questions. What is philosophy? What is its purpose? And how does it differ from the empirical sciences? The remainder of the chapter covers the sources of the crisis, Trendelenburg's philosophia perennis, philosophy as critique, Schopenhauer's revival of metaphysics, the rise and fall of the neo-Kantian ideal, Eduard von Hartmann's metaphysics of the sciences, and Wilhelm Dilthey's conception of philosophy as a worldview.
