Day 20: Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860)
Known for his pessimism and the concept of the will.
Biography of Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer, born on February 22, 1788, in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), was a German philosopher best known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. Schopenhauer’s upbringing by a wealthy merchant father and a writer mother exposed him to a cosmopolitan and intellectually stimulating environment, though his family dynamics were often strained. Following his father’s death, which was possibly a suicide, Schopenhauer and his mother moved to Weimar, a center for German literary and intellectual life. Despite his mother’s social circle, Schopenhauer pursued his own path, dedicating himself to philosophy. He studied at the University of Göttingen and later at the University of Berlin, where he attended lectures by Fichte and Schleiermacher but developed a critical stance towards their idealism. Schopenhauer’s philosophy was largely ignored during his lifetime, and he lived in relative solitude, gaining recognition only towards the end of his life. He died on September 21, 1860, in Frankfurt, having influenced a wide range of thinkers and artists beyond the confines of philosophy.
