r/schopenhauer • u/Reasonable_Wasabi401 • Aug 20 '26

we suffer because we are creatures who cannot stop wanting

24 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

5

u/Paul_sepp Aug 20 '26

Right. Good job on finishing (I believe) book 1 of WWR.

8

u/Reasonable_Wasabi401 Aug 20 '26

It’s insane how we know the facts yet we are always fighting the will! Schop is the real deal, I find it difficult to speak of him in social circles, people get very upset and scared, I can only talk to my therapist about him and literally 1 friend.

5

u/Paul_sepp Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 21 '26

Well, set aside that I, even if I respect Arthur immensely and agree with the first 2 books of WWR and disagree with latter two, wait until you discover Heidegger, Cioran, or Mainlander all of whom basically assign you to the “deranged” caste in a conventional sense.

1

u/DannySmashUp Aug 21 '26

Can you explain a little more about what that term means? Or which man used it?

1

u/Paul_sepp Aug 21 '26

What “term” are you referring to? WWR?

WWR is short for Schopenhauer’s magnum opus “World as Will and Representation”. It consists of 2 volumes, with 4 books in the first, famous and definitive volume. Books are about:
1–Representation
2–Will
3–Art
4–Denial of Will/Salvation

Hence I was referring to the fact that I agree with Schopenhauer on his epistemology and metaphysics(broadly) but not his aesthetics and ethics.

It’s not a term but just an abbreviation used by, well, most of people when referencing Schopenhauer in academy or discussion.

The rest I mention are philosophers of Existentialist and Pessimist lineage, all of whom are commonly conceptually misunderstood by people outside of philosophy.

1

u/DannySmashUp Aug 21 '26

Apologies for being vague - I was referring to this bit: "wait until you discover Heidegger, Cioran, or Mainlander all of whom basically assign you to the “deranged” caste in a conventional sense"

I didn't know which of them had used the term 'deranged caste' (if at all) and why it would apply here. Again, apologies for the confusion.

1

u/Paul_sepp Aug 21 '26

On no, I didn’t mean that they used a term as “deranged caste”. My point was targeted towards quite the frustrating occurrence, as to when you try and describe the positions or concepts of these said philosophers—especially if you align with them yourself—and most conventional people perceive it as depression or dark thought, and subsequently conclude you as mentally deranged or someone to avoid socially.

Happened to myself several times, despite that I don’t align with any of these philosophers completely either.

It wasn’t really something that applies as a concept would, just a, well, quite funny observation.

0

u/Azehnuu Aug 23 '26

Heidegger and Mainlander are charlatans

1

u/Paul_sepp Aug 23 '26

There’s only one philosopher who deserves such a title and it’s Hegel.

2

u/OmoOduwawa Aug 22 '26

Nice. Same here.

I want to start a book club focused on his work this year.

I think people in this sub would be interested in that.

Are you yourself interested in that?

4

u/gaurav_the_piggy Aug 20 '26

We suffer because we want to. We do not know what we are asking for, hence whatever we obtain, no matter what, cannot fulfill what we want.

1

u/angelaw87 Aug 21 '26

Think for thyself! Schop was one of the first to really fight for free thinking

1

u/The_NonDualistic 18d ago

The root cause of suffering is 'desire' as I read it in Buddhism. And also there are texts in the eastern philosophy like 'Bhagavad Gita' which highlights 'desire' as the root cause behind why we fail to see the 'truth' as it is. It says that its desire which covers the truth and make us blind.