Schopenhauer

1. Philosophy 151 Winter, 2004 G. J. Mattey Schopenhauer

2. Modern Philosophy • Modern philosophy begins with Descartes • Before Descartes, philosophers had ignored the role of the subjective in their descriptions of the world • Descartes recognized that the subjective is the starting-point of all philosophy • Only our own consciousness is present immediately to us

3. Idealism • Berkeley recognized that what comes before consciousness is mediated and dependent on it • He concluded that the objective, material world exists only in our representation • To attribute to the objective world an independent existence is contradictory • Any attempt to conceive of independent existence yields an object for consciousness

4. Realism • The dependence of the objective world on consciousness is “transcendental” • The objective world nonetheless has a reality that is “empirical” • Material objects exist in space and time and are subject to laws that are not subject to individual whim • So transcendental idealism cannot be refuted by the reality of material things

5. Modes of Dependence • The objective world depends on the subject in two distinct ways • Materially, in that there is no object without a subject: this was the insight of Berkeley • Formally, in that consciousness determines the way in which objects exist for it: this was the insight of Kant • Space, time, and causality are the three forms through which the objective world is determined by consciousness

6. The Thing in Itself • Consciousness is responsible for the existence of objective reality only insofar as it is an object for consciousness • It must exist independently as a non-object, a thing in itself, in order to become an object • Kant had claimed that things in themselves are unknowable • Schopenhauer held that there is a single thing in itself, which he called “will”

7. Fichte • Fichte dealt with the problem of the thing in itself by abolishing it • Objective reality is the product purely of the knowing subject • In this way, Fichte “entirely abolished the real” • His system was a caricature of Kant’s • It moved philosophy away from a solution to the problem

8. The Human Being • The nature of the human being in itself is that of an individual will • Will is by its nature unconscious • So how can the conscious human being be the objectification of an unconscious will? • The human body (the “organism”) is the objectification of the will in space • The brain is the source of the intellect, which in turn is the source of consciousness

9. Will and Intellect • The organism is the primary phenomenon of the will • As a product of the organism, the intellect is a secondary phenomenon • Will is like substance and intellect is like accident • Will is like matter and intellect is like form • Will is like warmth and intellect is like light • The intellect, like the organism, is physical, while the will is metaphysical

10. A Paradox? • The human body is a material object only for consciousness • Consciousness is a product of a part of the human body • Thus, consciousness is a product of something whose own existence (as object) depends on consciousness • Representation began when the first eye opened, but how could there have been an eye before there was representation?

11. Self-Consciousness • The subject of knowledge and its object must be distinct • So, the object of knowledge cannot be the self insofar as it knows • So, knowledge of the self must have as its object something other than intellect • The non-intellectual part of the self is the will • It consists in willing and having ends, as well as in having emotions based on desire and aversion

12. The Essential Element • We know, nearly a priori, that every animal wills existence, well-being, and propagation • We attribute to animals all the modes of willing that we attribute to ourselves • But we attribute intellect to them only with difficulty • We only allow by default that they have ideas, which are required for them to have the passions we attribute to them

13. Grades of Intelligence • Greater intelligence is due to increased complexity in the organism’s needs • The degree of intelligence in an animal is correlated with the size and complexity of its brain • In humans alone there is abstract reasoning • This makes the intellect the dominant element in human consciousness

14. The Detached Intellect • The dominant role of the intellect in humans has led philosophers erroneously to believe that will is the product of intellect • But this thesis is refuted by the fact that the will is strong in animals with weak intellects • In exceptional humans, however, the intellect can detach itself from the service of the will • In such cases, intellect is purely objective

15. Completeness of Will • Will is simple and therefore complete in all organisms • An animal either wills to act or does not will it • It admits of no degrees, though there are degrees of excitement • The complex deliberations of the intellect only propose options as to what would best satisfy the ends of the will

16. Interplay • At times, the will is moved by the thoughts entertained by the intellect • One becomes sad upon thinking of a lost love • But the will asserts its mastery by blocking ideas toward which the intellect is inclined but which would trigger negative emotions • The best analogy for the relation is that of a sighted dwarf being carried on the shoulders of a blind giant

17. Motives • The intellect supplies the will with motives, as, for example, the moral worth of an act • But the will has motives of its own, which are often hidden from the intellect • The true motive often emerges only as a result of later circumstances • The ancient Greek injunction, “Know thyself,” is thus quite difficult to carry out

18. Will and Morality • We judge the moral value of an act by the intention which it carries out • Suppose that the motives of the will are only the result of knowledge • Then the only motives by which an act is judged morally are those which are provided by the intellect • We would then be unable to condemn those acts which contradict conscious motives

19. Development • Willing springs up spontaneously, while the intellect requires effort to operate • The strongest will is found in infants, while intellect takes a long time to develop, because it is a function of the brain • When the intellect reaches its highest powers, will becomes reinforced by sexual desire and passion

20. Precipitation • The will frequently acts precipitously, before the intellect has completed its deliberations • The intellect is unable to resist the emotions that arise on the basis of incomplete deliberation • Those who can keep their heads are rare, and are to be found mostly among a few nationalities • We would not be annoyed by many things if we were first to understand their causes

21. Control • The will is like a horse that the human is trying to control • Intellect is the bridle and bit • Its means of control are “instruction, exhortation, culture, etc.” • But will can overcome this control in fits of anger, in intoxication and despair • In cases of insanity, all control is lost

22. Old Age • The will remains as strong in old age as in a child • Intellect can burn itself out if it is overused during the course of life • Those who fare best in old age are those who rest the intellect properly • The intellect rests in sleep, while the will works to restore the body to order • The ever-beating heart is the will’s symbol

23. Imperfection • If, as all the philosophers claim, intellect is primary, how can its weakness and imperfection be accounted for? • We cannot understand how the original nature of human beings can break down so consistently • Will, on the other hand, is not weak and imperfect, and in this way it is a better candidate as the true human nature

24. Immorality • An objection is that will is imperfect because it is immoral • But this objection is based on a faulty conception of morality • The source of morality is above nature and in contradiction to it • The will is egoistic, wanting nothing but its own satisfaction • Pursuing morality leads to the abolition of the will

25. Interference • The intellect can function properly only when the will does not interfere • The activity of the will often corrupts the course of thinking • But the activity of thinking has little effect on the course of the will • Coolness and presence of mind is needed to overcome fear, anger, joy, desire

26. Enhancement • If the mind were a simple nature, intensity of will would increase the power of thinking • The pleasurable, healthy emotions, on the other hand, enhance the other bodily functions, such as circulation and respiration • The brain is a parasitic organ, so the effect of will is not necessarily favorable to its function, the intellect

27. Hope and Despair • Hope is explained as an attempt by the intellect to soothe the will, thereby violating its own search for truth • Often the will suppresses the worst outcome, which comes as a surprise when it happens • On the other hand, melancholy people, in the service of the will, exaggerate the likelihood of the worst outcome

28. Love and Hate • Both love and hate subvert our judgment • We tend to exaggerate the virtues and minimize the vices of those people and things that we love • Conversely, we tend to exaggerate the vices and minimize the virtues of what we hate • This accounts for prejudices of “position, profession, nationality, sex, and religion” • It also accounts for tenacity of belief

29. Advice • If an adviser has a vested interest in the matter at hand, we will discount the advice • This occurs no matter how insightful the advice may be • We do this because we see in ourselves the influence of our hopes, desires, etc. on our own conduct

30. Suspension • A genius is able to arrive at a state of perfect knowledge and objectivity • In that state, the genius is able to suspend the will altogether • Moreover, all the individuality of the genius is shed, and he becomes “the pure subject of knowing” • This pure state is the correlative of the Platonic form

31. Irresolution • There are no corresponding direct influences of the intellect on the will • Irresolution, the inability to make up one’s mind, seems a counter-example • But the will is not paralyzed by a menu of options with similar probabilities • Instead, it lacks the courage to act upon that which most probably has the best outcome, because it wants to play it safe

32. Leadership • There are persons of exceptional genius whose intellects exert a great influence on their wills • This leads them not to act with great firmness, decisiveness, and persistence • Those qualities of character are essential to leadership of other human beings • So geniuses are not major players in the course of human affairs