A pessimist is a well-informed optimist.

Great lecture! Thanks for taking the time to record and upload this

Good lecture. Good speaking voice as well. And thanks for not ruining it by putting music over the lecture as many often do

So grateful for this podcast. Has helped so much in my own readings of Nietzsche. Keep up the great work my fellow metal head 🔥

Takhle společnost si rada a velmi casto zaměňuje realismus a pesimismus... To, ze nekdo rika pravdu a vam se to nelibi, z neho nedělá pesimistu... Jako s tou blondýnečkou tedka v autě...

This narrator is so casually intellectually gifted that it makes me want to chuckle. He's the kind of guy who could talk about Anything but is so gifted that I'd go along for the ride, even if it was just to Walmart.

Thank You, excellent technical production too.

First so comprehensive lecture about Schopenhauer on youtube.

Extremely high quality exposition and commentary.

Thanks very much. I'm really enjoying listening to this. Your style is great, makes this complex material very enjoyable and accessible. I'll definitely be listening to more of these.

More Schopenhauer please

What an awesome thing you've done here. Thanks so much for this

Really enjoy your content mate. Very well thought out and interesting

Brilliant lecture. Intelligent, eloquent, thoughtful & kept me locked in

Fascinating. Thank you!

This is a brilliant podcast. I most definitely will be reading Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung.. Didn't realise Schoppenhauer's metaphysics and epistemology was such a profound and brilliant continuation of Kant's (my favorite philosopher) undertaking and approach.. Thank you so much for this.

Thank you very much for your analysis’ on these philosophers. Wonderful videos sir. Please continue with these.🙏🏼

this is so nicely explained.

Thank you very much for this. I have been searching for an overview of Schopenhauer’s philosophy that clarifies his thought on the subject-object distinction, his criticism of competing schools, the exact role of the POSR, and other tenents beyond simply focusing on the Will.

Wonderful! Took me three listening sessions to take it all in, but you explained it all so well. Thank you!

Well done, clear and concise. And thanks for no background music.

Hey man, this stuff is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Love your insights and enjoy thinking about this stuff.

Thank you for such a wonderful work

Great show, thanks. 👍

just wanted to say- your voice is awesome. you speak so clearly and with interest in which you’re actually talking about lol so thank you for giving me something cool to listen to during work.

Amazing! Thank you so much,

One of the best videos on Schopenhauer, the man was a genius. Well presented.

Just, amazing!

Excellent video btw, well done.

80 thalers was actually a very substantial sum of money in the German States in the 19th century. A Thaler Was a very large Silver coin weighing well over an ounce of silver, usually around 30 grams and usually over 40 millimeters in diameter, with some variance from state to state as Germany was not unified at this point and was a loose decentralized confederation of territories. This amount of silver that made up one thaler had a high amount of purchasing power and the average yearly wage for a Laborer in most German territories was about 30 thalers as an annual salary, so you could imagine that 80 thalers would be a fairly substantial amount of money in Hamburg or Frankfort in the 1800s. This is actually something that I am pretty well versed in, as I am a Numismatist and an avid l collector of German States coins and I have several thalers in my collection dating back to the 1500s. Another interesting fact is that the English word "Dollar" actually comes from the Germanic word "thaler" which is it's entomological root word

Thank you for this lecture.😎

What a great job, thanks!

I'm stoked that this channel has so many listeners. And the comment section is huge !!!! Awesome.

Man I love all your podcast

100%: So grateful for this podcast. thanks!!!

Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all of it 1:38:07 part 1 ends, watched all of part two 2:52:20

I just can't see how Schopenhauer is a pessimist after reading The World as Will and Representation. Honestly.

Here's something really interesting. I'm currently staking my life on Schopenhauer being correct. I'm involved in a project where I'm giving my life away to the saxophone. I'm literally living a life of pure discipline. No worldly desire, only hard work, alone. So I have to believe Schopenhauer is right as long as I keep playing saxophone

dude you have an extremely enjoyable podcast/video voice.

‘Dandy’ of the underworld in true Marc Bolan fashion. Superb working through steadily. Thank you 🤩

You need to do audiobooks if you dont already. Fantastic speaking voice.

Thank you so much, you're a great teacher. Please keep this kind of content coming.

Superb!

Wonderful. I've read The World as Will & Representation twice, and have never heard such a clear, concise and deep introduction to Schopenhauer as this. I used to be Schopenhauerian myself but am much more of a Nietzschean now - perhaps for reasons of temperament rather than intellect! Incidentally, I agree with you that art shouldn't be purely contemplative and Apollonian. We need the Dionysian too. I think the greatest art of all is usually a marriage of the two. Consider Dostoyevsky, Keats, Beethoven, Django Reinhardt, Turner, or Botticelli.

It really is surprising that you didn’t examine Schopenhauer’s take on music, although you took your time analysing the rest of the arts, which in his eyes are inferior with a significant gap. Music’s delineation from platonic ideas was such an eye opener for me when I first came in contact with Schopenhauer’s philosophy that ever since, I have always kept it very close to heart. In any case, great effort on the video as a whole.

He spoke truth.

Thank you for this, enjoyed it thoroughly. Perhaps you could do a lecture on Viktor Frankl and comparing him with Nietzsche?

Either we become sane to insane or insane to sane objectively, great explanation, thank you

A blissful, absolutely brilliant elucidation of A. Schopenhauer’s philosophy. Congratulations to the narrator! You have done an admirable job!!! I listened to the entire lecture, and I have to say that the narrator’s soothing voice is alike therapeutic and uplifting. Even Schopenhauer’s beautiful although dour existentialistic outlook, his incurable pessimism, could be said to be very uplifting and it is due to his marvelous philosophic mind, whose amazing puissance to soar into the essence of things, the will-to-exist, noumena, the thing in itself, is even more enthralling by all the incidental occurrences, conflicts, struggles, of life and death, as checked by our conscious self-willed existence. In Schopenhauer’s metaphysics and this awful world of the will-to-exist, however tragic in countless contests, we are blissfully carried away into a riveting contemplation of all the phenomena of Mother Nature. In my room I have a painting of a penitent nun (India Anacaona) whose countenance conveys the reality of a world of sorrows, sufferings and the wheel of samsara, which reminds me Schopenhauer’s asceticism. I also I have a copy of the Abduction of Psyche by the French artist William A. Bouguerrau, whose celebration of life through the uplifting powers of aesthetics, an orgasmic flight, reminds me of F. Nietzsche! However betwixt Nietzsche and Schopenhauer’s gloomy philosophy, the latter is extremely additive, and though we may reluctantly abhor a world so rife with sufferings, conflicts, decadence, aging, illnesses, disappointments and even meaningless, some may escape this monster-will through the path of asceticism, mysticism and aesthetics. F. Nietzsche’s solution to the problems of existence, I may argue, is in stark contrast to Schopenhauer’s mysticism, and till this day I am still struggling to set myself free from the barbaric intoxication of these Germans… Finally, I would like to say that Schopenhauer’s will to exist is solely confined to the purview of our known world, namely, the planet Earth. If this will-to-exist is so encompassing, so universal, so-far-reaching, even beyond the earthly shores of our little solar system, why is this intelligent life (human beings) so rare a phenomenon? In the long stretches of cosmic time, this will-to-exist has only be able to create a bunch of intelligent, odious, bipedal critters (humans or Homo Sapiens, which are incurably tribalistic, racist and primitive), whose greed and stupidity could finally bring a nuclear disaster on the surface of the Earth. Bravo! This is the best world of all possible worlds…thanks to those extraterrestrials, whose cool standoffishness is simply suggestive of a world of absurdity, meaninglessness and nihilism.

You had me at 'hated Hegel'

Thank you!

Life is an endedless hunt for happiness that never comes and then you die.

Thanks ❤️

Very good content

"The Art of Being Happy" Please !!

There are serious people who work hard at what they do... But we need a "gift" to teach like you do. Straight to the point - no arrogance - speaks slowly and enjoys the words... I am grateful! #judeuslivresporPALESTINALIVRE

Quite a technical talk, requires paying a lot of attention

Thomas Ligotti wrote about it well enough.

Schopenhauer In-Depth: The Total Denial of the World by the Greatest Pessimist of Philosophy 00:00 📚 Arthur Schopenhauer is known for being a quintessential pessimist who argued that life is futile and filled with suffering. 01:23 🌍 Schopenhauer's philosophy distinguishes the world as "will" (undivided force) and "representation" (phenomena subject to laws and perception). 03:18 📖 Schopenhauer's main work, "World as Will and Representation," influenced Nietzsche and remained his core philosophy throughout life. 06:36 💰 Schopenhauer came from a merchant family, worked as a clerk, and later pursued philosophy with a fixed worldview. 10:02 🌐 Schopenhauer's philosophy was influenced by Indian philosophy, particularly the Upanishads. 14:22 🕰 Schopenhauer maintained a rigid daily routine for 27 years, emphasizing his unyielding character. 16:41 🔥 Nietzsche was introduced to Schopenhauer's ideas by a friend and diverged from him by embracing life's affirmation. 20:47 🤔 Schopenhauer's philosophy begins with the concept of the "world as will," which is the fundamental aspect of reality. 21:44 🌎 Schopenhauer argues that the world exists in two aspects: will and representation, and he relates this to our subjective experience and consciousness. 23:08 🤯 According to Schopenhauer, our bodies are both objects in the world of representation and the means through which our will acts in the world. 24:35 🧐 Schopenhauer contends that the will is the inner nature of the self and is different from mere representation. 26:00 ⚖ Schopenhauer argues that the will is groundless and the source of all phenomena, not subject to causality. 28:24 🌟 The "thing in itself" for Schopenhauer is the will, which underlies all phenomena and is indivisible. 30:15 💭 Schopenhauer believes that feeling is the manifestation of the will within the body. 32:45 🌌 Schopenhauer extends the concept of the will to all phenomena in nature, including forces like magnetism and gravitation. 35:06 🤔 Schopenhauer chooses the term "will" because it reflects our direct experience of inner desire, making it more understandable than other abstract terms like "force" or "energy." Please note that these key takeaways are based on the provided video transcript. 41:43 🧠 Schopenhauer emphasizes the importance of looking to one's immediate certainties within their subjective experience, focusing on feelings, desires, and passions as the gateway to understanding fundamental reality. 43:36 🔍 Schopenhauer believes that no amount of science can break us out of the limitations of empiricism, as we receive the world through the senses. He advocates for using reason to make synthetic judgments a priori to understand reality. 46:31 🌌 Schopenhauer asserts that gravity, like all forces in nature, represents the will's blind striving, with no awareness or self-awareness, and it affects all things with mass, driving them to accumulate more mass. 49:52 💭 Schopenhauer argues that our perception of time, space, causality, and the principle of sufficient reason are essential components of our understanding of the world, and they belong to both the object and the subject. 52:18 🌐 Schopenhauer's epistemology highlights the compatibility of empirical reality with transcendental reality, emphasizing that everything in the world is only an object in relation to the perceiver, and it exists for the subject through representation. 55:17 🤔 Schopenhauer's principle of sufficient reason explains how time, space, and causality are necessary for the existence of matter and reality as we perceive it, bridging the gap between empirical and transcendental views of the world. 59:05 🧐 Schopenhauer contends that our interpretation of sense data through a conceptual framework, including concepts like causality and permanence, is essential for the existence of the world as we know it, which is the world of representation. 01:03:57 🧠 Schopenhauer rejects materialism because it assumes a dead world where objects exist without a subject's representation. 01:04:23 🌍 Schopenhauer believes that material objects are indirectly given to us through the senses, and our direct knowledge is of representations. 01:05:49 🤔 Schopenhauer criticizes both materialism and idealism for their errors and pitfalls in understanding reality. 01:06:46 🌌 Schopenhauer is influenced by Indian philosophers who view the world as an illusion and the true reality as an undifferentiated unity. 01:09:18 🤖 Schopenhauer sees logic as a second-order derivation of perception, and direct perception is pure knowledge.

These videos are tremendous sir…tips hat 🧢

15:50 actually he did walk because of his health. In a letter to a friend he "revealed" that the secret to his good condition at old age was his "daily promenades".

Great presentation 👏🏼 BTW @8:53 "1918" should be 1818

That's not pesimism, it's freedom and true joy

One of the greatest optimists of all time.

Excellent! For a more positive outlook I suggest Decoding Schopenhauer"s Metaphysics by Bernardo Kastrup. His (Kastrup's) Metaphysical Idealism brings it all together in a very believable philosophy.

You are impressive.

Probably my favorite philosopher, at least top 5.

Yeah I got, like, two syllables in and I totally subscribed. I mean, I don't even know what the content is, but you've got a voice made for radio. Screw pot -- screw psychedelics -- forget beta waves or whatever: this is the stuff people should listen to for bliss.

No copyright

Do you have a Patreon? How can I support you and keep this going?

Hearing such things is surreal, since I've thought them for over a decade--I'm 30. My theory is Schopenhauer's "wills," but where the will that you are is your present (timeless) experience (qualia flavor), not to be confused with its structural representation.

I heard the comment made by his mother was something more dramatic, like the following: "Certainly! Copies of your first edition will still be available for sale!" I also heard it was delivered during a soiree at her salon. Its historicity is likely dubious, but it's an entertaining anecdote.

Thanks for an honest understanding of Schopenhauer! As an artist, retired art teacher, and lover of philosophy, I fully agree with Schopenhauer's idea of both art and genius. It is in sync with my thoughts and in keeping with his collective thinking. This is where I dislike Nietzsche (well, I understand your favour). In his attempt to personify the antichrist, Nietzsche opposes the simplicity of reality ( God, form, thing in itself) by opposing his will rather than letting his will go to see it as is. in its own genesis ( without neurosis or psychosis)

Idk- my father had a degree in Philosophy and drank himself to death at 51, although successful. My ex husband had a Philosophy degree and drank himself to death after retiring from civil service age 65. My brother had a masters, nearly finished a PhD in Philosophy, (Harpur College as it was known then) and drank himself to death at 64 after leaving the PhD program and starting a construction company. Just weird facts. Dont think to hard y’all or drink too hard haha. Im a retired RN who got sober 40 years ago. Dont know how I landed on this channel …Good luck everybody

I just got to the part where you mentioned he, Nietzsche, and many others followed a rigid behavioral pattern. Based on that behavior, the out of the box abstract thinking and unique social skills (or lack thereof) I'd bet money they were all on the autism spectrum. There's definitely a pattern imo. Thank you for all of this great work.

Thanks for this. I'm excited to check it out! Nietzsche is one of my heroes. Schopenhauer is someone I've worked at but haven't fully grasped yet. Thanks for the podcast - we need real means of thinking our way out of this horrorshow.

great

01:13:33 🔍 Schopenhauer argues that a transcendent intellect can perceive a different world than ordinary people, similar to Plato's allegory of the cave. 01:18:14 🌟 Schopenhauer introduces the concept of "will" as the driving force behind existence, and Platonic ideas are used to classify the gradations of the will's objectification. 01:26:25 🌍 Schopenhauer's philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of all existence, stating that mankind relies on ecosystems, weather patterns, and geological processes for survival. 01:27:28 🌊 The gradation of the will's manifestations is expressed by an outer necessity, where various life forms, including humans, depend on each other as well as the natural world. 01:28:45 🦉 The will is in a constant state of striving and conflict, as it is never satisfied, leading to perpetual competition and suffering among different manifestations of the will. 01:29:40 Schopenhauer believes that freedom from all limits is intrinsic to the nature of the will, which is an endless striving, causing continuous suffering and unsatisfactory desires. 01:30:35 Schopenhauer illustrates the perpetual renewal and change in the world, with every attainment leading to a new course, emphasizing the ceaseless nature of existence and desire. 01:32:36 Knowledge intensifies suffering by illuminating the character of the will, making humans capable of recognizing suffering that other beings cannot. This knowledge leads to the possibility of denying the will as a path to liberation. 01:34:39 Schopenhauer's philosophy is characterized by its dark and pessimistic view of life, emphasizing the suffering and dissatisfaction inherent in human existence. 01:37:45 Schopenhauer's ultimate goal is the denial of the will, a rejection of worldly desires and the attainment of liberation from suffering, which he believes can only be achieved by humans through knowledge and reason. 01:48:50 Schopenhauer draws parallels between his philosophy and Buddhism, emphasizing the idea of stopping desires and denying the will as a path to liberation from suffering. 01:51:51 Schopenhauer believes that art and aesthetics offer a unique means of directly exiting the will and achieving liberation. 01:53:46 Schopenhauer sees the Platonic ideas as the most adequate objectivity of the will, representing patterns and forms in the world, which exist independently of individual instances. 02:05:27 Schopenhauer discusses the role of knowledge in negating the will, leading to the liberation from desires through disinterested contemplation and perception of natural objects. 02:07:53 Schopenhauer's view of art focuses on selfless perception and contemplation of the object, similar to Eastern meditation practices, but it may not encompass the entirety of the artistic experience. 02:10:49 Schopenhauer discusses the metaphor of the mind as a mirror in Buddhist philosophy and how it relates to perception and attachment. 02:12:40 Schopenhauer describes a state of mind achieved through pure perception where the individual becomes willless and experiences the world as dependent on their existence. 02:14:01 Schopenhauer emphasizes that desires inevitably lead to suffering and that the pursuit of one's will's desires only results in disappointment. 02:15:26 Schopenhauer argues that even the fulfillment of wishes ultimately leads to new desires, perpetuating suffering and dissatisfaction. 02:19:26 Schopenhauer discusses the concept of genius, individuals capable of representing ideas independently of individual entities, and how they experience moments of pure knowing. 02:21:15 Schopenhauer explores the connection between madness, art, and philosophy, likening it to Plato's enlightened man who has freed himself from the cave. 02:23:28 Schopenhauer discusses the sublime in aesthetics, emphasizing that it leads to a state of will-less contemplation and defines beauty. 02:25:45 Schopenhauer's pessimism lies in the endless cycle of suffering driven by the will to live, not just mortality, and how individuals have no value to nature. 02:30:12 Schopenhauer argues that individuals are subject to the laws of causality, individuation, and mortality, while emphasizing the indestructibility of the archetype. 02:31:38 Schopenhauer suggests that humans are not commonly bothered by the fear of death, as they tend to focus on immediate goals and desires, believing they are part of the enduring will of nature. 02:34:28 After death, Schopenhauer believes individuals return to the timeless and endless will, not as separate entities but as part of an indestructible chain of beings. 02:36:20 Schopenhauer argues that life's real problem is not death but the endless pain inherent in existence, making suicide an ineffective solution. 02:42:00 Schopenhauer sets up a challenge for those who desire eternal recurrence of life, similar to Nietzsche's concept, but he himself rejects the idea, emphasizing the negativity of existence. 02:45:15 Schopenhauer's aim is the negation of the individual will, leading to a state of nothingness, akin to the Buddhist concept of Nirvana, but without mystification or continued existence. 02:49:03 True death, according to Schopenhauer, is not achieved through suicide but through the conscious rejection of life as an autonomous choice, leading to nothingness. 02:52:40 Nietzsche was heavily influenced by Schopenhauer's concepts, such as the will, representation, genius, and the negation of the will, which played a significant role in shaping Nietzsche's philosophical ideas.

Always thought Schopenhauer’s premise a bit absurd: that a good world, or a good life, is not possible with evils in it. You can’t even know one without the other. All that we know is based on opposing/complimentary energies and things. Right/Wrong, Hot/Cold, Male/Female, Up/Down, In/Out, Far/Near, Light/Dark, Smart/Stupid, Fear/Courage. Both opposing sides compliment the other by representing that which the other is not. This is our reality and cannot be altered.

10:15 "Specifically the text that contributed the most to the views put forward in World of wa... as will and representation." Comedy gold.

I really like Schopenhauer Mythology . I really like how you were able to communicate to us what his passages really mean even though you may not agree fully. Everything we need We already have but because it’s never enough we always feel incomplete. We are accountable when we are aware of the knowledge of truth and reality. We then are accountable for the change within ourselves. So we technically die in someway to be reborn. And that’s heavy in the beginning. I have more peace understanding and live a more harmonious life with the understanding that everything I need I already have.💕

Man, thanks for sharing! Poor Schopenhauer was the ultimate sad boy. Definitely got an awful lot in life, similar to Edgar Poe. I read his writing "Studies in pessimism" A majority of it, I'd say he makes some good points, but man, he sure didn't get to enjoy the vanity of life at all. 😅

*He published his book in 1818 (you accidently said 1918) 60$ from 1913 (founding of the FED) would be somewhere around 1800$ today, can't imagine it being very much different in Germany (especially after 2 world wars) I looked it up, 60 Gulden (from 1840) would be 1430€ today.

Schopenhauer was a realist ; he knew that this is all BS ; niche was confused and even though he agreed with Schopenhauer, niche was in denial

A pessimist is nothing more than an optimist with experience.

Schopenhauer wasn't a pessimist he was a sober realist.

The fourfold explication of the PSR demonstrates an obvious friction of reason with itself, between the four classes of objects/explanations. One can't admit category mistakes. The distinction between objects is strict, and the distinction between explanations is strict: concepts aren't causal, motives aren't logical premises or conclusions, and so on. Can this account for a view of "competing necessities," essentially, necessity without purpose, namely, striving without goal, a will: a better name than force or energy (which are mathematical representations) for a connection without purpose that is nonetheless necessary?

Where can I read about this phenomena "numinous split"? Can't grasp it, especially since I'm not a native english speaker I can't really classify this term.

"existence and perceptibly are convertible terms"

As a Buddhist, his philosophy makes the most sense to me. Despite his negativity.

It helps to frame it as a terrible experience that you get through and make the best of, rather than a joy that you are supposed to feel, but don't.

If all is will, the motive force for all is will, so the only force or energy by which the will can be negated is the will. The will's negation of the will must inevitably be a striving for negation against a striving for non-negation. The will cannot be negated by the will, the best that can be achieved is to use will to suppress the external manifestation of will. The striving can never be negated, only locked into an eternal battle within the mind that limits will's expression within perceived external reality. There can never be victory over the will, only a perpetual stalemate in which will is turned against itself in such a way as to limit its extremal manifestation within perceived reality. Only a tiny percentage of human minds will be capable of engaging in this perpetual internal warfare of will against itself, so the suffering of the external world will continue largely unabated while simultaneously those minds capable of harnessing the will with such skill will be squandered on a futile endeavor rather than free to serve mankind. The problem with the kind of Eastern metaphysics that defines us all as iterative manifestations of a single meta-being of some kind, is that they are entirely at odds with the empirical evidence for how humans actually live their lives in the mundane world. If we are all one, then stealing from you becomes stealing from myself, which isn't theft at all. If we are all one, then "grape" becomes nothing more than "self-pleasuring," "unaliving" becomes "self-unaliving," violence becomes self-harm and all rights predicated upon the notion of individual agency, like property rights, all become null and void. If there is no "I" then "I" cannot own anything, all things must be the property of all in the one. This, of course, is not even how the vast majority of Hindus live. Even most Buddhists own property and respect the agency of others. If we take the "all is one" philosophy to its logical conclusions, then we must dispense with almost everything that has made civilization possible and dissolve all individual human agency into nothing.

Schopenhauer was not a pessimist, he was a refreshing life-positive realist.

20:32

What would Schopenhauer make of Nietchiche

Schopenhauer said ‘will’ is same as ‘will to live’ - It’s our ‘Will to Live’, it’s our blind, Urge - (Force?)- to live on and propagate. ‘I am all this creation, without me there exists no other'

This regularity of daily habits is in the german nature, precision and stubbornness is a common chracteristic of germans (I'm Austrian, and I myself am like this)

If the simplest will is the law of gravitation, than the simplest triumph of the will is a black hole.

Thank you, 1:38 part 1 ends, part two ends, 2:52😎

1:26:49