Arthur Schopenhauer · Philosophy
If our innermost being is insatiable will, then to live is to want, to want is to lack, and to lack is to suffer. Schopenhauer argues that suffering is the essence of existence, that satisfaction is merely the brief absence of pain, and that life swings between pain and boredom. This is philosophical pessimism in its most rigorous form.
You learned that Schopenhauer derives pessimism from the metaphysics of will: willing springs from lack (suffering), satisfaction is fleeting and negative, boredom fills the gaps, and so life is essentially suffering. Explain the argument from will to suffering.
Leads to The Buddha.
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