The nineteenth-century German philosopher Schopenhauer observed that nature is driven by an all-encompassing force, which he called Will, or more specifically, the Will-To-Live. This force is unconscious, aimless, and blind, and provides rise to an We live our lives grasping, craving, and attaching ourselves to external things, which we feed on other living organisms to perpetuate our own existence, all of which can be a manifestation of Will. Thus, the will lies at the idea of suffering, as our never-ending hunger (and our inability to satiate it) results in an ongoing pursuit of pleasure that never, ever satisfies within the top of the day.
To affect the misery of life, Schopenhauer took the difficulty to construct a philosophy to help us acquire a state of happiness, which may seem slightly strange as he's such a pessimistic thinker.
But almost sort of a philosopher and spiritual teacher that lived about 2,500 years ago named Buddha, Schopenhauer rigorously examined and endured the illnesses of existence before he came up with a cure. , glücklich zu sein, ”which could also be translated as“ The art of being happy ”, and contains fifty rules for all times.
Schopenhauer is widely considered an unhappy philosopher who verified the earth through a lens of disenchanting pessimism. Reading his writings, it indeed becomes clear that he didn't sugarcoat existence, but sought to form a world image that resembles reality; no matter how painful, harsh, and
ugly this reality could be.
But his specialize in the misery of life was actually the key to understanding how we'll escape it. I even have reminded the reader that every state of welfare, every feeling of satisfaction, is negative in its character; that's to say, it consists It follows, therefore, that the happiness of any given life is to be measured, not by its joys and pleasures, but by the extent to which it has been free from suffering – From positive evil.
End quote. This pain of dissatisfaction is what characterizes life; as pleasure in itself, or happiness of that matter, is nothing quite short lived release from pain. Therefore, pain is positive, because it are often added and subtracted, while happiness is negative as it's simply the absence of pain.
If this idea sounds familiar, you ’re probably conversant in the teachings of Buddha, which contain some similarities. So, it ’s not a surprise that Schopenhauer studied Buddhist teachings, also as Hindu texts a bit like the Upanishads.
According to Schopenhauer's metaphysics, we do not see the earth objectively, but as representations of it, created by our own minds. This means that there is no object without a subject, and everything we see are mere perceptions, and not the things-in -themselves.
This metaphysical reality that Schopenhauer sketches (which is based on the works of Immanuel Kant) are often confusing and liberating at the same time. It's confusing because there's apparently no objective experience, because the truth of things we perceive is generated by the mind, meaning that what we observe isn't what it actually is.
But it is also liberating, as we, ourselves, can like better to see the earth during a special light. If we glance close enough, we'll determine that it isn't the external things that influence us, but how we perceive them . Knowing this means that we'll change our relationship with what's outside folks and liberate ourselves from the enslavement of the will and thus the planet. But how?
The denial of the will entails that we deny what the will naturally instills in us. So, we turn our backs on pleasure and renounce the external world.
However, asceticism isn't for everyone. There's only a touch percentage of people that engage in asceticism and manage to free themselves from suffering entirely; a state that's mentioned as enlightenment in Buddhism. So, albeit the whole freedom of pain is an option, It's Probably more realistic to specialize in ways to reduce pain, and make life more bearable, and even enjoyable. So, how can we be happy when life is so painful?
Schopenhauer created his fifty rules for the (quote on quote)'normal person' as against the ascetic. He states that when pursuing happiness, we shouldn't tend to a Stoic 'ascetic' attitude nor Machiavellianism. With reference to the first way, he believed that the will-to-live is simply too strong within the traditional person to hunt out happiness through detachment and ascetic.
In regards to the second way, he believed that happiness should not be pursued at the worth of individuals. His view of happiness for the standard Joe lies between these two extremes, which he calls eudemonia --a word that's utilized in Stoic philosophy for describing He sees the eudemonic life as an existence which, after close examination, is clearly. For Schopenhauer, eudemonia features a special meaning preferred to non-existence. or simply put: a cheerful life could also be a life that's more enjoyable than death. He states that the normal non-ascetic person will never be able to assume complete happiness, but, instead, should aim for a condition that's less painful. Now, how can we do this?
The key to Schopenhauer's philosophy of happiness we discover within the primary lesson of his book, during which he states that we should always always abandoning of our entitlements to all or any or any kinds of happiness and pleasure, and specialize in the reduction of pain. Schopenhauer wrote that children especially believe that the earth is there to be enjoyed, which is hardly the case.
It ’s a fallacy that ’s still present among the younger generations, which used to be nurtured by novels and poems (in the time of Schopenhauer) and currently by movies and television series.
It's the parable of a satisfying positive happiness that's so ingrained within the common narrative.
But chasing an illusion will only cause the reality of positive unhappiness: the only thing that's real. If we follow this logic, the first thing that possesses to be done Is to quit chasing the illusion and start pursuing what are often pursued, thus, minimizing The pain of life. As Schopenhauer stated which I quote: “The safest way of not being very miserable isn't to expect to be very happy.” End quote. And that is so beautiful about getting older: we've become wise enough to supply up the pursuit of happiness that made us miserable in our younger years. As we fear the suffering we've previously endured, we're now focused on minimizing pain.
Schopenhauer argued that it's better to live life without an excessive amount of suffering than with the foremost important joys.
It's no secret that tons of celebrities who have access to the simplest of pleasures (that aren't available to the masses) are very troubled and unhappy individuals. So, despite of eating the foremost expensive food, living during an enormous villa with a swimming pool, being adored by numerous people, they still experience pain that's severe enough to arouse addiction to substances, depression, and even suicide.
Unfortunately, our culture doesn't only present these lifestyles as ideal --not having of those great joys and pleasures is typically seen as a failure, and thus the thought of ?? getting failed can make us miserable also. Thus people are miserable because They didn't Obtain misery. Isn't that ironic?
The wise, according to Schopenhauer, wouldn't even bother to pursue such an existence.
Instead they avoid the sufferings of life. And if they happen to miss out on pleasure there's nothing lost, as pleasure is an illusion anyway. Now, how can we acknowledged our lives during how that we reduce pain the utmost amount as possible?
Well, pain is caused by many different things. Consistency with Schopenhauer, these things either correspond with how we see ourselves, or how we see the earth.
For example, when we're unrealistic about our own qualities, we're likely to suffer. That's why Schopenhauer stated that we should always always know ourselves inside out, so on compute what our strengths and weaknesses are.
If we use and develop the talents which we are naturally good at, we rarely experience the pain that arises when we're reminded of our weaknesses. Another example is when Schopenhauer argues that it isn't about what we've, but what we are.
He emphasizes that ‘the way we feel’ is what matters. Health and cheerfulness are more important than fame and wealth. “The healthy bum is happier than a sick king”, he concluded.
So, it's knowing choose health over everything else, and always welcome cheerfulness as this decides how you're feeling within the here and now.
Albeit Schopenhauer doesn't recommend asceticism, he does present a kind of healthy indifference towards people, stuff, and standing He frequently quotes Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, and his system of pleasure, which seems an honest start line if we seek to attenuate pain. In short, we must specialize in our basic needs that are easy to satisfy, and naturally satiable, like eating and drinking, which we must avoid the pursuit of fame and extreme wealth, as these are impossible to satisfy and difficult to realize, and also easy to lose, which translates
to suffering.
We could say that Schopenhauer leads us to the golden middle path: not striving for illusory happiness', but not engaging into self-denial either: choosing pleasures that cost us zero to minimal pain, while avoiding pleasures that we've to suffer for Because once we feel good inside, the surface, no matter how bleak, is way easier in-tuned. Also, we should always always always put our mental and physical health first.
Thank you for watching.