John Vespasian explains that Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) would have been amused to see philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) theorise about anxiety and personal authenticity. Sartre didn’t regard as self-evident that individuals are aware of their freedom and the need to make constant choices. In contrast to Sartre and other existentialists, Schopenhauer considered self-evident that happiness is the purpose of life; he had taken that idea from Aristotle (384-322 BC) and viewed it as obviously true. Schopenhauer didn’t spend a minute worrying about anxiety and personal authenticity because he viewed them a non-issues in the quest for personal happiness. He considered it healthy, reasonable and proper that people want to improve their lives. The objective of philosophy is to help individuals make better choices and attain happiness, not to worry about non-issues. This point marks a major difference between Schopenhauer and existentialism. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/the-key-difference-between-schopenhauer-and-existentialism/

Ver todos los episodios