One of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century Schopenhauer (1788-1860) believed
that human action is determined not by reason but by 'will' - the blind and irrational desire
for physical existence. This selection of his writings on religion ethics politics women
suicide books and many other themes is taken from Schopenhauer's last work Parerga and
Paralipomena which he published in 1851. These pieces depict humanity as locked in a struggle
beyond good and evil and each individual absolutely free within a Godless world in which art
morality and self-awareness are our only salvation. This innovative - and pessimistic - view
has proved powerfully influential upon philosophy and art directly affecting the work of
Nietzsche Wittgenstein and Wagner among others. Arthur Schopenhauer was born in Danzig in
1788 where his family of Dutch origin owned a respected trading house. Arthur was expected to
inherit the business but hated the work and in 1807 after his father's suicide and the sale
of the business he enrolled in the grammar school at Gotha. He went on to study medicine and
science at Gottingen University and in 1810 began to study philosophy. In 1811 he transferred
to Berlin to write his doctoral thesis and began to write T he World as Will and Idea a
complete exploration of his philosophy which was finished in 1818. Although the book failed to
sell his belief in his own views sustained him through twenty-five years of frustrated desire
for fame. During his middle life he travelled widely in Europe and in 1844 brought out a much
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 collection of dialogues essays and aphorisms. He died in 1860. R.J.
Hollingdale has translated works by among others Schopenhauer Goethe T.A. Hoffmann
Lichtenburg and Theodor Fontane as well as eleven of Nietzsche's books many for the Penguin
Classics. He has published two books on Nietzsche and was Honorary President of the British
Nietzsche Society until his death in 2003.
