On the Suffering of the World
Asearing vision of the human condition - Schopenhauer's perception of the importance
of art, morality and self-awareness in a blind struggle against a Godless, meaningless
world radically transformed our understanding of the individual and remains a searing
vision of the human condition.
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we
see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution.
They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and
destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals
and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.
Arthur Schopenauer was born in Danzig in 1788, where his family, of
Dutch origin, owned one of the most respected trading houses. In 1793 the business moved
to Hamburg, and in 1805 Arthur, who was expected to inherit it, was apprenticed as a clerk
to another Hamburg house. He hated the work, so in 1807, two years after his father's
suicide and the sale of the business, he enrolled at the grammar school at Gotha. In 1809
he entered Göttingen University to study medicine and science; the following year he took
up philosophy. In 1811 he transferred to Berlin to write his doctoral thesis (1813).
During the next four years he lived in Dresden and wrote The World as Will and Idea
(1818), a complete exposition of his philosophy. Although the book failed to sell,
Schopenhauer's belief in his own philosophy sustained him through twenty-five years of
frustrated desire for fame.
During his middle life, he traveled widely in Europe. In 1844 he brought out a greatly
expanded edition of his book, which after his death became one of the most widely read of
all philosophical works. His fame was established in 1851 with the publication of Parerga
and Paralipomena, a large collection of essays, dialogues and aphorisms. From 1833 until
his death from a heart attack in 1860 he lived in Frankfurt-am-Main.
132 pages, Paperback