Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer shared with Hobbes a pessimistic view of human nature, but he posited the source within the individual: he exposed the dark side of humanity. Hobbes saw people at war with one another, whereas Schopenhauer considered that they were at war with themselves. For him, the internal ferment is fueled by irrational motives that far exceed our ability to control them. His is a philosophy of the irrational in contrast to the prevalent rationalism adopted by his predecessors. It is this appeal to the irrational and unconscious that is of such importance in the development of psychology, and his philosophy shares many features with Freud's theories. His views were expressed at an early age in his book "The World as Will and Idea" (1818)

Schopenhauer was influenced by both Goethe and Kant, accepting some of their concepts and rejecting others; he was also inspired by Eastern philosophy. He followed Goethe in developing a theory of color vision. With Kant he accepted that reality (the-thing-in-itself) in unknowable, but it consisted of an all-pervading will, of which individual wills are constituent parts. The motive force for the individual will is struggle to survive. Rather than being under the control of the intellect, rational thought is subservient to the will, which is driven by irrational forces. Life is considered to be a succession of blind impulses, like hunger and sexual desire, that are temporarily satisfied, only to return. Pleasure, the satisfaction of an impulse, is transitory: "No attained object of desire can give lasting satisfaction, but merely a fleeting gratification." Understanding the power of the will only amplifies the suffering it imposes. The dire state of affairs can best be ameliorated by immersion in some activity that is not driven by the will, like art. The power of sexual desire can be reduced, he argued, byu leading an ascetic life. ~ Page 39