Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) crafted one of the most comprehensive philosophical systems the world has ever seen. He weaved together the ideas of Plato, Kant and Asian religions into an encyclopedic worldview that combines the empirical science of his day with Eastern mysticism in a radically idealist metaphysics and epistemology. In The Philosophy of Schopenhauer, Dale Jacquette assesses Schopenhauer's philosophical enterprise and the astonishing array of implications it has for metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics, philosophy of logic, science and religion. Jacquette provides clear exposition and analysis of the central topics in Schopenhauer's philosophy including his so-called pessimistic philosophical appraisal of the human condition, his examination of the concept of death, his dualistic analysis of free will, and his simplified non-Kantian theory of morality. His metaphysics of the world as representation and Will; his most important and controversial contribution to philosophy; is discussed in depth and the arguments by which he hopes to prove that thing-in-itself is Will are evaluated. The legacy of Schopenhauer's ideas, and in particular his influence on Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, is explored in the final chapter.

"Excellent. . . Jacquette's guide to Schopenhauer's thought achieves its aims remarkably well, providing an in-depth, well-argued, sympathetic, but still critical reconstruction of all of the central aspects of Schopenhauer's philosophy. Jacquette's work also provides an important interpretation of the philosopher's central metaphysical claim and its ramifications for thinking about human freedom and ethics."

Source: Mind