Genre: Philosophy/Essays
Page Count: 236
It was during the very first essays in this book that after reading certain lines, I felt dead inside. Like someone had solved, in a sentence, all the mysteries of life and the result was something utterly empty, offering nothing for the mankind. Such is Schopenhauer’s pessimism and his commanding style of writing!
Arthur Schopenhauer was a 19th century, German philosopher known for his most pessimistic philosophy of all time. (‘Human existence must be some kind of error’ he says.) So bleak was his life and so unforgiving his perspectives on it, that he created his own philosophy to support his pessimism; a philosophy that paints in the color grey only.
This book is his collection of ‘Essays and Aphorisms’ on certain topics ranging from, of course, suffering of the world to religion, suicide, women, aesthetic, ethics, thinking and reading, psychology and so on. It’s not Schopenhauer’s mainstream philosophy, which is his work ‘The World as Will and Its Representation’, but rather the jest of his neatly organized thoughts and ideas on different topics.
It is divided into two sections of essays and aphorisms, where the former is composed of large texts on each topic and the latter of short ones. I liked the essays more than the aphorisms, since the points in them were, being lengthy, well argued.
Now, I am deeply fond of Schopenhauer; as far as, I may pick him, if asked, as my favorite of all philosophers! For the reason that in his pessimistic philosophy my own viewpoints about the world and life in general are resonated. Not only is he and his relentless pessimism a good company to have when the world is not looking so bright, which has mostly been the case for me, but in his persuasive opinions we also meet the ultimate end, the sea, of all our pessimistic thoughts.
It may sound very repulsive and depressive, but it is rather oddly cheering. For the last company one needs when one is down, melancholic, or depressed is an upbeat, cheerful and optimistic one. In these times we need someone who not only has been through what we are going through, but one who has also thought and written upon them with great effort – someone who understands it, more than we suppose we do ourselves.
I found myself many times intrinsically amused by his words, so much so, that it brought me exploding pleasure: that delight of being understood, that relief of finding someone who gets it. It just cheers you up from the cores, and you end up saying to yourself: this is the man who understands it all; he is the company to seek when one most needs one.
And what adds to this pleasurable effect of reading Schopenhauer is not only his philosophy, but also his commanding, confident, and persuasive writing. Although it has some elements of old English, or maybe it’s just due to the translation from German, it nevertheless is very easy to read, and dopamine-producing when understood.
Metaphors! Schopenhauer is a master of using them to make his point not only clear, but also quite astounding! It could, however, take some time for our amateur minds to grasp what profound idea has just been said, which is also true for all pure philosophical texts.
For this reason, readers find it preferable to read works on philosophers rather than of them. But in this case, I dare say, I enjoyed reading Schopenhauer himself more than I did reading Alain de Botton talk about him and his philosophy.
Alongside his popular pessimism, we also find other philosophical ideas of Schopenhauer in this book, which I’ve to say, was refreshingly welcome! His views on ethics, reading and thinking, religion, suicide, and psychology among others showed views of Schopenhauer that one usually doesn’t come across.
However, it’s also in some of these topics where the interest level dips off a little and the sentences and ideas start to appear ungraspable; which is why I can’t, although I definitely wanted to, give this book five stars.
Schopenhauer’s relentless and cheerful
pessimism, brute commentary, and persuasive writing makes this book not only
one of my favorites, but one to which I shall lean on in difficult times – for
in such times only the pessimist’s company and optimism, if any, is the one to
seek and trust.
Ratings: 4/5 **** (October 20, 2020)