Essays and Aphorisms
€0,00
First published in German in 1851 as part of Parerga and Paralipomena, Arthur Schopenhauer’s Essays and Aphorisms gathers some of the philosopher’s most incisive reflections on the human condition. Ranging across happiness, suffering, solitude, morality, religion, art and the pleasures and perils of reading, these short pieces bring his uncompromising vision of existence into sharp, often startling focus. For Schopenhauer, human life is driven by an insatiable will, condemning us to recurring dissatisfaction; yet he also finds moments of respite in aesthetic experience, compassion and the cultivation of independent thought.
Translated and selected by R. J. Hollingdale for the influential Penguin edition first published in 1970, the collection offers an accessible entrance into one of the nineteenth century’s most distinctive philosophical voices. Schopenhauer’s prose is direct, sceptical and frequently wry, alive to the contradictions of human vanity and the difficulty of attaining contentment. His pessimism would leave a lasting mark on Nietzsche, Freud and modern European thought, while his observations on books, culture and the art of living retain their unsettling immediacy. Essays and Aphorisms is philosophy in its most personal and portable form: a companion for readers willing to question the consolations of common wisdom.
From the book
“The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.”
— Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays and Aphorisms
On Essays and Aphorisms
“They are the most user-friendly writings of Schopenhauer and they were recognized as that in his day.”
— David Bather Woods, philosopher, Five Books