Schopenhauer's Moral Philosophy

Patrick Hassan, Patrick Hassan

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000512953
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy

This volume brings together internationally recognised Schopenhauer scholars to develop new perspectives on his moral philosophy.

Despite anticipating and engaging with many of the arguments now recognisable in Anglophone moral philosophy, Arthur Schopenhauer has often been overlooked as a potential contributor to contemporary discourse within this domain. Not only was he one of the most important 19th-century critics of Kantian deontology, Schopenhauer also developed a plausible moral system of his own grounded in compassion. While interesting parallels can be drawn between his system and the sentimentalist tradition familiar from the likes of Hume and Hutcheson, Schopenhauer's idiosyncratic metaphysics provide a unique approach to standard questions in moral psychology, the philosophy of action, axiology, and moral epistemology. The chapters in this book draw out the relevance and influence of Schopenhauer's ethical program, attempting to demonstrate the as yet untapped wealth of conceptual resources for pressing moral problems. They address a wide range of topics, including: the moral status of animals; the moral permissibility of suicide; the possibility of altruistic action; the nature of virtue and asceticism; how Schopenhauer integrated Western influences with various Indian traditions of moral thinking, and more.

Schopenhauer's Moral Philosophy will be of interest to scholars and advanced students interested in Schopenhauer, 19th-century philosophy, and the history of ethics.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Primary Sources
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• 1 Schopenhauer's Rejection of the Moral Ought
• 2 Schopenhauer's Titus Argument
• 3 The Moral Perception of Inherent Value
• 4 Virtue and the Problem of Egoism in Schopenhauer's Moral Philosophy
• 5 Schopenhauer, the Philosopher of Vulnerability
• 6 All Creatures Great and Small: Schopenhauer on the Value of Life, the Nature of Justice, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• 7 Schopenhauer, Suicide, and Contemporary Pessimism
• 8 Schopenhauer's Sexual Ethics
• 9 Schopenhauer's “Indian” Ethics
• Index