Birth of Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer was born on 22 February 1788 in Gdańsk. A German philosopher, Schopenhauer was born in Danzig and set out his views in The World as Will and Representation, published in 1818. Drawing on Kant and on Indian thought, including the Upanishads and Buddhism, he argued that reality is at bottom a blind, ceaseless striving he called the Will, which makes human life a source of suffering. He held that temporary relief can be found in art and music, in compassion for others and in renouncing desire. His attempt to compete with Hegel as a lecturer in Berlin failed, and the book was ignored for decades, but he later gained a following. He deeply influenced Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud and Wittgenstein.

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