PHIL 1100 Lecture : The Meaning of Life-Schopenhauer
14 Dec 2011
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Document Summary
Well known for pessimistic philosophy, very honest individual. He takes the pain and suffering of the world very seriously. Pain and suffering is not he exception in life, it is the norm. If you think there is more happiness than suffering, he gives the example of the animal. The predator is happy because he is getting a meal but the victim is in a lot of pain, the horror of being chased, caught and eaten. He will argue that humans are more capable of pain and suffering than animals. If we think that there is more happiness in the world rather than suffering, you would be naive. We are like lambs in a field, disporting themselves under the eye of the butcher. He says the preponderance of pain must be so. Imagine if we had everything we wanted, we are either filled with arrogance or possibly madness.
