Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher. He is most famous for his work The World as Will and Representation. He is commonly known for having espoused a sort of philosophical pessimism that saw life as being essentially evil, futile, and full of suffering. However, upon closer inspection, in accordance with Eastern thought, especially Buddhist, he saw salvation, deliverance, or escape from suffering in aesthetic contemplation, sympathy for others, and ascetic living. His ideas profoundly influenced the fields of philosophy, psychology, and literature.

Schopenhauer on homosexuality

Schopenhauer was also one of the first philosophers since the days of Greek philosophy to address the subject of male homosexuality. In the third, expanded edition of The World as Will and Idea (1856), Schopenhauer added an appendix to his chapter on the "Metaphysics of Sexual Love." In it, he develops the idea since only mature men and fully adult but pre-menopausal women are capable of bearing healthy children, in early adolescence and in late middle age the sexual appetite is susceptible of being turned towards another channel.

Related Topics:
Greek philosophy - Homosexuality - 1856 - Menopausal

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While there may again be more autobiography than analysis in this hypothesis, it is consistent with the general tenor of Schopenhauer's thought, which gives the Will in nature the position of setting an agenda for individual lives. It is also one of the first attempts at portraying homosexuality as a natural phenomenon, acknowledging its existence in every culture, and seeking to explain its appearance even in those cultures whose moralities sharply condemn homosexual behaviour.

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