Schopenhauer, Religion and Morality: The Humble Path to Ethics

ISBN-13: 9781138263635 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 328 str.

Gerard Mannion

Opis

This work challenges the textbook assessment of Schopenhauer as militant atheist and absolute pessimist. In examining Schopenhauer's grappling with religion, theology and Kant's moral philosophy, Mannion suggests we can actually discern a 'religious' humility in method in Schopenhauer's work, seen most clearly in his ethics of compassion and his doctrine of salvation. Given Schopenhauer s opinion of religion as the metaphysics of the people, his utilisation of and affinity with many religious ideas and doctrines, and the culmination of his philosophy in a doctrine of salvation that ends in the mystical, Mannion suggests that Schopenhauer s philosophy is an explanatory hypothesis which functionally resembles religious belief systems in many ways. Mannion further argues that Schopenhauer cannot claim to have gone any further than such religious systems in discerning the 'true' nature of ultimate reality, for he admits that they also end in the mystical, beyond which we must remain silent. Indeed, Schopenhauer offers an interpretation, as opposed to outright rejection of religion and his system gains the coherence that it does through being parasitic upon religious thought itself. Given current debates between theologians and philosophers in relation to 'postmodernity' and 'postmodern thought', this book illustrates that Schopenhauer should be a key figure in such debates."

Recenzje

'... the book is a valuable and original contribution to the growing stream of publications on Schopenhauer.' Ethical Perspectives '... Gerard Mannion offers his readers a judiciously thought out, innovative and well researched 'religious' interpretation of Schopenhauer [...] that does full justice, in a way that few other commentators do, to the mystical elements of his thought. It is thus an original and desirable contribution to the existing secondary literature on Schopenhauer: an impressive monograph in itself, as well as being a rich source of information, reference and argument for philosophers and theologians interested in Schopenhauer's philosophy, most particularly insofar as it connects, as it so often does, with religious concerns.' Heythrop Journal

Spis treści

Contents: Introduction: Schopenhauer and Religion: Schopenhauer's worldview: hope or depair?; Militant atheist? Introducing Schopenhauer on religion; Metaphysics of the people: Schopenhauer, religion and truth; Schopenhauer and Morality: Reason and the foundation of ethics: Schopenhauer's rejection of the Kantian moral system; Kant, religion and morality: first steps on the 'humble path'; Mitleid and morality: interpreting Schopenhauer's ethics; Schopenhauer's humble path: Schopenhauer and the moral gap: the thing-in-itself, the will and beyond; The religion of Schopenhauer: searching for meaning and salvation; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

O autorze

Gerard Mannion