Arthus Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer was born on February 22, 1788 in the city of Danzig, Poland to Heinrich Floris Schopenhauer and Johanna Schopenhauer. His parents belonged to wealthy German Patrician families. In 1793, after the Kingdom of Prussia conquered the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth city of Danzig, the Schopenhauer's family shifted to Hamburg. It is believed that the father of Arthur had committed suicide in 1805. Soon afterwards, his mother shifted to Weimar which was at that time the centre of German literature in order to pursue a career in writing. After a year, Schopenhauer withdrew the family business in Hamburg and went to his mother. In 1809, he enrolled in the University of Göttingen. He took subjects like metaphysics and psychology which he studied under Gottlob Ernst Schulze, author of Aenesidemus. Schulze suggested him to completely focus on Plato and Immanuel Kant. From 1811 to 1812, in Berlin, he participated in the lectures of the eminent post-Kantian philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte and the theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher.

 

Sadly, Schopenhauer did not have a flourishing relationship with his mother, rather it was notably stressful. After the demise of his father, he worked hard for two years as a merchant, paying homage to his dead father. Later, his mother moved to Weimar and Schopenhauer devoted himself entirely to studies in the gymnasium of Gotha. But soon he left the same in great annoyance after he saw a master’s lampooned. Schopenhauer moved to reside with his mother. By that time, his mother had opened her own but not-so famous salon. Schopenhauer was not comfortable with the proceedings and ways of running a salon. At the same time, he was also annoyed with the fact that his mother had forgotten his father so easily. Thus, he got himself admitted at the university. Also he wrote the first book of his life titled, “On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason.” Her mother told him that the book was hard to understand and therefore, most probably nobody would purchase even a copy of it. Arthur, in great anger, replied that his book would be largely read, no matter what she thought. 

 

 

Schopenhauer started his seminal writing in 1814, “The World as Will and Representation.” He completed this work in 1818 and published the same in 1819. The following year, he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Berlin. He organized his lectures in a way so that they coincided with the lectures of the popular philosopher G. W. F. Hegel, whom Schopenhauer regarded as a “clumsy charlatan”. But it did not work well for him and only five students came to attend lectures of Schopenhauer and ultimately he was expelled out of academia. In his late essay, titled “On University Philosophy”, he expressed his hatred towards the philosophy of the university. During his days in Berlin, Schopenhauer was given a name of a defendant after a law act started by a woman named Caroline Marquet. She accused Schopenhauer was pushing her and demanded for damages. The testimony of Schopenhauer said that the lady intentionally agitated him by screaming while standing just outside his door. Marquet accused Schopenhauer for assaulting and damaging her after she denied leaving his doorway. Also, the person with the lady confirmed that she witnessed Marquet prostrate outside the house of Schopenhauer. Eventually, Marquet won the court case and Schopenhauer had to make all her payments for the next two decades. When Marquet died, he wrote on a copy of her death certificate, Obit anus, abit onus which means “The old woman dies, the burden flies”. In 1831, Berlin encountered a cholera epidemic and therefore, Schopenhauer moved away from the city. He, then, in 1833, got permanently settled in Frankfurt. There he stayed alone for the next 27 years. Schopenhauer had two pet dogs named Atman and Butz in his Frankfurt house. A large number of notes he wrote during these long years were published after his death under the title “Senilia.”

 

In 1819, Schopenhauer fathered an illegitimate child in Dresden. This child died the same year he/she was born. In 1821, Schopenhauer fell in love with an opera singer Caroline Richter who was 19 years of age. Both were in love relationship for many years. However, Schopenhauer dropped marriage plans and wrote that “Marrying means to halve one's rights and double one's duties”, and “Marrying means, to grasp blindfolded into a sack hoping to find out an eel out of an assembly of snakes”.

 

Schopenhauer was physically strong but his health started declining in 1860 and eventually, he died on 21^st September 1860 of heart failure while sitting on a couch at his residence. He was buried at Frankfurt Hauptfriedhof.

1788: Arthur Schopenhauer was born.

1793: Schopenhauer's family moved to Hamburg.

1805: His father may have committed suicide.

1809: Enrolled in the University of Göttingen.

1811-1812: Attended lectures of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Schleiermacher.  

1814: Began writing “The World as Will and Representation.”

1819: Published The World as Will and Representation; fathered an illegitimate child in Dresden.

1820: Appointed as a lecturer at the University of Berlin.

1821: Fell in love with Caroline Richter.

1831: Moved from Berlin.

1833: Got permanently settled in Frankfurt.

1860: Died of heart failure, aged 72.