The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer was a fascinating thinker because he was perhaps
the first to combine both eastern philosophy and western philosophy into his philosophical
works. He believed human existence to be one of inevitable, meaningless suffering and that
western philosophy was incapable of providing a solution to this problem. Instead, he proposed
a way to minimize life’s suffering and hardship rooted in eastern thought, specifically the
writings of the ancient Upanishads. This video will first do a concise overview of why Schopenhauer
believed life to unending suffering and craving, cover his eastern philosophical solution to
reduce life’s suffering, and my thoughts on how correct and relevant his philosophy
is today.
In his work, The World as Will and Representation, he believed the humanity and entire universe
to be a manifestation of something he called “the Will” or “the will to live”,
a blind impulse or force outside space and time characterized by a restless striving
Because the will has no ultimate goal or purpose, human existence is one of insatiable striving,
we being manifestations of this will.
We’re always motivated by cravings, such as the need to satiate feelings of hunger,
thirst, propagation, the need to achieve, and more, which he saw as arising from the
will. When we fail to satiate our need or fulfill a desire we have, humans become frustrated,
resulting in suffering.
When we do fulfill a desire, one of two things happens. #1. We just immediately go back to
craving or striving for something else to make us feel happy or at peace. Or #2. We
become bored with life. Once the novelty of achieving our goal and being free from the
craving wears off, we succumb to boredom, eventually giving way to craving and desire
again.
“Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom.” he wrote.
Humans who relentlessly chase happiness and lasting meaning are fools, he thought, as
the feeling is just a fleeting one if there is one at all.
“Optimism is not only a false but also a pernicious doctrine, for it presents life
as a desirable state and man's happiness as its aim and object. Starting from this, everyone
then believes he has the most legitimate claim to happiness and enjoyment. If, as usually
happens, these do not fall to his lot, he believes that he suffers an injustice, in
fact that he misses the whole point of his existence.”
So if human existence is fundamentally one of striving and insatiable craving, how do
we find peace while we live?
Schopenhauer provided two solutions, a temporary one of aesthetics and art and a lasting one,
of asceticism.
First, he believed that by gazing and contemplating beautiful and stunning works of art, we can
temporarily suspend the will, thus craving and suffering.
“It is through aesthetic perception that the transcendence of ego can manifest itself,
for with aesthetics (that is any object, person, or artform) we can evaluate an idea beyond
our earthly interpretation of reality.”
See, like Plato, Schopenhauer believed an archetype or ‘perfect’ form of an object
existed on a higher plane of existence like ‘the perfect chair’ or ‘perfect tree’.
These lay outside space and time and, thus, the will.
For instance, when gazing at a magnificent specific tree, we would perceive shining through
that tree, the archetype of all trees in an appreciation of every tree that was, is, or
will be.
In that moment, the will and ego vanish temporarily, and we’re left in peace and awe. Music,
he thought, was perhaps the best form of art that transcended the ego and brought us closer
to these Platonic ideas.
“On the occurrence of an aesthetic appreciation, the will thereby vanishes entirely from consciousness.”
So, one ought to fill their life with beautiful art and music. However, these are just short-lived
experiences at best. That’s why he promised a more serious solution, asceticism, or the
practice of self-denial charactered by living a life free of pleasures and desires.
He was inspired to come to this conclusion from reading the Upanishads, which are late
Vedic Sanskrit texts of religious teachings that form Hinduism’s foundations. After
reading the ancient eastern text he called it "the production of the highest human wisdom"
He thought that the only way to true peace is to free ourselves of the craving and thus
the will. To achieve true peace, one must stop giving into temptations and cravings
of the will and live like a solitary hermit, free of sensual wants and material possessions.
These, after all, don’t actually give us happiness and peace and are just illusions
of happiness born out of insatiable striving.
However, the fight against the will, he surmised, is a fight against the very foundation of
nature itself and most people didn’t have it in them to live the life of the ascetic.
When one begins to stop responding to the striving of the will successfully, they transcend
nature and enter a mystical state of consciousness, he thought.
He described this mystical state of consciousness as a gently moving ocean of tranquility and
where “the will has vanished,” and the physical world “is — nothing,”
-- Ok, so that’s Schopenhauer’s answer to
the problem of suffering in life. Now, how relevant is this answer today and was he correct?
Well, first, it’s important to point out Schopenhauer, like many esteemed philosophers
and thinkers throughout history, didn’t exactly follow the advice he gave others.
Historians note he had several affairs up until late in life while supposedly advocating
for asceticism. In fact, his fellow philosopher Bertrand Russel in his work The History of
Western Philosophy, criticized Schopenhauer for being a hypocrite.
Although he clearly didn’t live a life of strict asceticism like the Buddha tried, it
could be said he may have attempted to embraced lighter type, a tradition found in the Upanishads
called Sannyasa, which involves living a simple solitary life, one with minimal or no material
possessions, study, meditation and ethical living. Scholars believe he was more influenced
by the Upanishads than Buddhist teachings after all.
Perhaps more importantly, can any of these solutions he gave help us? Many studies and
personal accounts of incorporating beautiful art and music into one’s life make life
satisfaction go up, although I don’t think we enter any Platonic realm. So go ahead and
visit an art museum or listen to more music you enjoy throughout life.
Strict asceticism where we attempt to break and suppress our natural desires, not so much.
The Buddha himself, in an attempt to rid himself of suffering, adopted a very strict ascetic
lifestyle. He took it so far as writers claim he became severely emaciated even tried to
control his own thoughts.
He concluded the experiment a failure and it was, later on, he theoretically achieved
enlightenment through insight meditation primarily. Leading a lifestyle free from overindulgence
can help well-being it appears, but strict asceticism similar to what monks do has no
backing or evidence that it can help the majority of people who practice it get significantly
better.
However, just because Schopenhauer wasn’t exactly correct, doesn’t mean eastern philosophy
can’t help improve our well-being. This includes investigating these serious phenomenological
experiences of consciousness supposedly achieved by Buddha and others. They are seriously exploring
as a real solution to drastically increasing human well-being, which I can do if anyone
wants.