Weltgeist

You may not realize it, but hidden in his collection of essays, Arthur Schopenhauer has worked out a more or less systematic philosophy of religion. This is the first part in a series of videos that will cover Schopenhauer’s unique outlook on religion. If you want to be notified when the other parts come out, please consider subscribing and clicking the bell button.

Schopenhauer’s main gripe with religion is with the distinction they make between meaning in sensu proprio versus in sensu allegorico.

“Sensu proprio” is the Latin term he uses which basically means “in a literal sense.” Sensu allegorico, of course, means “in an allegorical sense.”

What happens with religion, is they present some kind of dogma, which might be true in an allegorical sense, but they have to pretend to mean it in a literal sense. Religion cannot pretend its main tenets are merely allegorical because doing so would mean to undermine their own credibility.

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OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

When Dostoevsky was on the run from creditors, he and his wife arrived in the Swiss city of Basel. There they visited the local art museum and saw one of Hans Holbein's most famous masterpieces: The Dead Body of Christ in the Tomb.

According to Anna, Dostoevsky's wife, her husband was completely transfixed upon viewing this painting. He stared at it for hours, even going so far as finding chairs in the museum to sit in front of it.

The painting would play a role in Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot, where the titular character pronounces that a painting like this might cause a man to lose his faith.

This video explores why that is. Dostoevsky grew up in the Russian Orthodox Church, and iconographically, this Church prefers to show Christ as a judge and ruler of mankind, the so-called Christos Pantokrator motif. Christ in his capacity as judge, sometimes literally during the Last Judgment, or other times sitting next to God the Father.

Even though Christian dogma holds that Christ was both fully human and fully divine, it's a curious feature of the human psyche that we find Christ-as-God more palatable to our sensibilities than Christ-as-man, because to fully think through this dogma leads us to some uncomfortable ideas. Such as: the fact that Christ, in his capacity as man, was tortured and died a brutal death.

Most Christian artworks featuring the death and torture of Christ try to beautify him. Think for example of the quiet grandeur of Zurbaran or Velazquez, or the epic character of a Rubens. But Holbein chose such strict realism that an urban legend arose he literally fished up a dead body from the Rhine river to more accurately depict a body in an advanced state of decomposition.

This is Death, purely and honestly, without any artistic flourish. Just a confrontation with how the disciples must've seen Jesus too. Beaten and bruised.

Dostoevsky says the painting is so powerful in its honesty that you really start to question the core Christian idea: could a body that looked like this, ever beat death? In The Idiot, the same questions pops up, but from the perspective of the disciples. They must've faced this same question. They didn't know that Christ would rise, how would they have felt, confronted with death like this, from their beloved master?

This is where Nietzsche pops in: Nietzsche argues that the disciples invented and inverted modern Christianity because they had this crisis of faith, spurred on by watching their leader be beaten and humiliated, and invented the Christian story of the resurrection in order to take revenge on the enemies of Jesus. Dostoevsky, of course, disagrees. He tackled his crisis of faith in another way: by radically affirming Christ, even if truth itself is against him.

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WATCH: Nietzsche Explained: Beyond Good and Evil (all parts)
https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk

Pewdiepie's original (full) video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7u-xAWWyK4

A while ago, famous YouTuber Pewdiepie reviewed Friedrich Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil" as part of the book-club segment of his channel. His reaction to Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil was common: just like Pewdiepie himself, many people feel like this book is too difficult for them. In this video we tackle a few of the stumbling blocks encountered by Pewdiepie. If you want to read Beyond Good and Evil yourself, we highly recommend you check out own three-part series on this amazing work of philosophy.

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In the second instalment in our series on German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, we discuss his ethics. In the first video we saw how Schopenhauer thinks of the world, but the question now arises: what do we DO with that knowledge? This video explores Schopenhauer's ethics and focuses on two recommendations: compassion and asceticism. We also introduce the concept of "agape", or divine love. Schopenhauer's intense focus on the individual, could be seen in some ways as a precursor to the existentialism movement later in philosophy. The next part in this series will deal with the most famous aspect of Schopenhauer's philosophy: his aesthetics. If you don't want to miss, kindly subscribe to the channel.

P.S.: It's highly recommended you check out the first video in this series in order to understand this one.
Watch: SCHOPENHAUER Explained: Metaphysics of the Will:
https://youtu.be/i87hX_uznEQ

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In this video we go over an often-asked question. You want to read Kant, but you don't know where to start. We offer a some guidelines. We don't think it's wise to jump into the Critique of Pure Reason without either a broad background in philosophy in general, and without some knowledge of Kant in particular. Which is why we recommend Kant's introductory work to his metaphysics: the Prolegomena. If you can master the Critique of Pure Reason: congratulations! Then the Critique of Practical Reason as well as the Critique of Judgment shouldn't be any problem.

Recommended reading and timestamps:

Philosophy textbook (general introduction): https://amzn.to/2N6f9SS
Prolegomena: https://amzn.to/37nGfMm
Critique of Pure Reason: https://amzn.to/3dnsWPF
All Three Critiques (Pure Reason, Practical Reason, Judgment): https://amzn.to/3aujWGN

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:32 Step 1: Read a college textbook on philosophy
01:51 Step 2: Read the Prolegomena
02:40 Step 3: Read the Critique of Pure Reason

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Support us on Patreon, get access to exclusive videos:
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OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

In The Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche spends the entire final third of the book answering a single question: what is the meaning of ascetic ideals?

The ascetic ideal in Nietzsche's philosophy is the form that nihilism takes, it is that which promotes a movement away from the world, from the body, from the flesh, from our humanity. He sees this principle at work in every realm of human endeavor, from art to religion to philosophy and even modern science.

In this video we provide an overview of how the ascetic ideal - nihilism - finds its way into the artistic world through Wagner's Parsifal, into the religious domain through Christianity, in philosophy with Schopenhauer, and finally how even modern science, through Darwin and Copernicus and the like, provides a feeding ground for nihilism.

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In honor of one of the greatest.

Support us on Patreon, get access to exclusive videos:
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OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

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BUY THE BOOK: https://amzn.to/2Pqa092
WATCH Schopenhauer Explained: https://youtu.be/f-djIdl8WO4

Bernardo Kastrup is a Dutch philosopher who counts among the few contemporary philosophers who subscribe to a kind of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a PhD in philosophy as well as a PhD in computer engineering.

In his book, Schopenhauer’s Metaphysics Decoded, he attempts to make a case for Schopenhauer’s metaphysical system. As he explains in the introduction, Schopenhauer’s legacy and influence has mostly been felt in the fields of ethics and aesthetics, and not so much in the field of metaphysics. He calls this “tragic”, and I tend to agree.

This book, then, is meant as an appreciation as well as an elucidation of Schopenhauer’s metaphysics. At 141 pages it’s a quick read. And it may be too quick of a read for people who aren’t familiar with Schopenhauer at all, and think this book serves as a good introduction. On the other hand, this book is very readable once you have a basic understanding of Schopenhauer’s system. It’s not like you need to plough through the 1000+ pages of the World as Will and Representation first. (Although of course, it would help.)

If you are a long-time viewer of the channel, and you have watched our series on The World as Will and Representation, you’re good to go. The book is cheap and short and insightful, and I recommend you pick it up.

BUY THE BOOK: https://amzn.to/2Pqa092

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(Affiliate disclosure: If you choose to buy the book via the above link, at no cost to you, I get a small commission. It's a great way to support the channel while also getting a high quality work of philosophy.)

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Support us on Patreon, get access to exclusive videos:
▶ https://www.patreon.com/WeltgeistYT

OUR ANALYSES:
▶ Beyond Good and Evil: https://youtu.be/WIHXZUltfqk
▶ The Antichrist: https://youtu.be/qej1Z8Qzq_c
▶ Genealogy of Morals: https://youtu.be/6PUx4cOfFcI
▶ Twilight of the Idols: https://youtu.be/YpVr_NEvWYA
▶ The Will to Power: https://youtu.be/He6ZC7ZFBt8
▶ Daybreak: https://youtu.be/cOL2z7nuXdA
▶ The Joyful Science: https://youtu.be/U0fTBOJ-C_I

Arthur Schopenhauer, in his essay "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life," reflects on the fleeting nature of time and the stages of human life, using the metaphor of the solar system’s planets to illustrate each phase. He argues that life passes quickly, often unnoticed until old age, when we realize its brevity. Schopenhauer suggests that awareness of time’s flow can help us appreciate the moment and navigate life’s challenges with wisdom.

Childhood (Mercury): Represented by Mercury, childhood is a blissful, rapid-moving phase under the influence of the clever and eloquent Hermes. Free from the "Will to Life" (Schopenhauer’s concept of an innate drive), children live in pure cognition, unburdened by desire, assuming good parenting shields them from suffering.

Puberty/Youth (Venus): Venus, the goddess of love, governs this stage starting around age 20. The sexual drive awakens, dominating and distracting individuals from higher pursuits like philosophy. This "devil" fosters a "moderate madness," driving social behavior and conflict as individual differences emerge.

Adulthood (Mars, Planetoids): At 30, Mars rules with strength and defiance. Intellectual capacity peaks, though sexual distraction persists. By 40, the four planetoids (Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Juno) symbolize a stabilizing phase—accumulating wealth, knowledge, and domestic order.

Middle Age (Jupiter): At 50, Jupiter, king of the gods, reigns. This is the peak of genius, where experience and authority balance declining raw intellect, free from youthful distractions. It’s a time of independence and mastery.

Old Age (Saturn, Uranus): At 60, Saturn, the god of time, brings awareness of mortality, slowing life with a heavy, lead-like quality. By Uranus (death), we transition from earthly to heavenly spheres. Schopenhauer sees death not as an end but a return of the Will, hinting at a cycle tied to life’s beginning.

Schopenhauer concludes with a poetic lament about Neptune’s naming (preferring Eros to link love and death) and muses on death as a "reservoir of life," echoing ancient myths. His essay, written in old age, blends pragmatic advice—like prioritizing health—with philosophical depth, offering a guide to life’s inevitable highs and lows.
This work, rich in metaphor and wisdom, serves as both a map and mirror for navigating existence, urging us to face life’s transient beauty and struggles with awareness and resilience.

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Deep within an essay On the Art of Thinking for Oneself, Schopenhauer has four novels to recommend his readers. Of course, they are each in a different language... He also gives us objective, measurable standards to judge the artistic merit of a novel. Schopenhauer looks at how much a novel deals with the inner life -- the more it deals with the inner life of the protagonist, the more artistic a novel becomes because it's the inner world that excites our interest - not the outer world of representation.

Schopenhauer's recommended reading list:

1) Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne (https://amzn.to/3toq2zW)
2) Julie, ou la Nouvelle Héloïse by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (https://amzn.to/36EeKxK)
3) Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (https://amzn.to/3pPkGvw)
4) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (https://amzn.to/3aBNKQO)

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