Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer

OUR COGNITION, LIKE OUR EYE, SEES ONLY OUTWARDS AND NOT INWARDS, SO THAT WHEN THAT WHICH HAS COGNITION ATTEMPTS TO TURN INWARDS, IN ORDER TO HAVE COGNITION OF ITSELF, IT GAZES INTO TOTAL DARKNESS, GETS INTO A COMPLETE VOID. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER WAS A GERMAN PHILOSOPHER. HE IS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS 1818 WORK THE WORLD AS WILL AND REPRESENTATION, WHICH CHARACTERIZES THE PHENOMENAL WORLD AS THE PRODUCT OF A BLIND AND INSATIABLE NOUMENAL WILL. BUILDING ON THE TRANSCENDENTAL IDEALISM OF IMMANUEL KANT, SCHOPENHAUER DEVELOPED AN ATHEISTIC METAPHYSICAL AND ETHICAL SYSTEM THAT REJECTED THE CONTEMPORANEOUS IDEAS OF GERMAN IDEALISM. HE WAS AMONG THE FIRST THINKERS IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY TO SHARE AND AFFIRM SIGNIFICANT TENETS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY, SUCH AS ASCETICISM, DENIAL OF THE SELF, AND THE NOTION OF THE WORLDASAPPEARANCE. HIS WORK HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS AN EXEMPLARY MANIFESTATION OF PHILOSOPHICAL PESSIMISM. HIS WRITING ON AESTHETICS, MORALITY, AND PSYCHOLOGY HAVE INFLUENCED MANY THINKERS