SCHOPENHAUER, ARTHUR

born Feb. 22, 1788, Danzig, Prussia [now Gdansk, Pol.] died Sept. 21, 1860, Frankfurt am Main German philosopher, often called the philosopher of pessimism, who was primarily important as the exponent of a metaphysical doctrine of the will in immediate reaction against Hegelian idealism. His writings influenced later existential philosophy and Freudian psychology. Additional reading Biographies include Patrick Gardiner, Schopenhauer (1963, reissued 1971); Rdiger Safranski, Schopenhauer and the Wild Years of Philosophy (1990); Frederick Copleston, Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher of Pessimism, 2nd ed. (1975); and Bryan Magee, The Philosophy of Schopenhauer (1983). More specific discussions of his work include D.W. Hamlyn, Schopenhauer (1980), a study of his principal metaphysical arguments; Michael Fox (ed.), Schopenhauer: His Philosophical Achievement (1980), essays examining many aspects of his thought; Arthur Hbscher, The Philosophy of Schopenhauer in Its Intellectual Context: Thinker Against the Tide (1989), on his importance and influence; and Christopher Janaway, Self and World in Schopenhauer's Philosophy (1989).