人間の意志、性、倫理など、その思想が学問以外の場でも幅広く親しまれるアルトゥル・ショーペンハウアー（1788-1860年）は、最も理解しやすいドイツの哲学者であるといえるでしょう。本書は、ニーチェやヴァーグナー、フロイト、ウィトゲンシュタインなどに影響を与えた、その思想の原点に焦点を当て、平易な解説で、彼の形而上学的体系を解きほぐしていきます。刺激的なショーペンハウアーの世界に一気に引き込まれるのは間違いありません。(cf. Continental Philosophy, #043; Two Fundamental Problems of Ethics (Oxford World's Classics))
　　　

• Schopenhauer is widely read outside academic philosophy for his views on human will, sexuality, and ethics
• Schopenhauer's work inspired many artists and thinkers including Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud, and Wittgenstein
• Clear, accessible introduction to all the major themes in Schopenhauer's philosophy

 
Schopenhauer is the most readable of German philosophers. This book gives a succinct explanation of his metaphysical system, concentrating on the original aspects of his thought, which inspired many artists and thinkers including Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud, and Wittgenstein. Schopenhauer's central notion is that of the will - a blind, irrational force that he uses to interpret both the human mind and the whole of nature. Seeing human behaviour as that of a natural organism governed by the will to life, Schopenhauer developed radical insights concerning the unconscious and sexuality which influenced both psychologists and philosophers.