Analysis of Schopenhauer’s views on the meaning of life

Was Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) a subjectivist? Did he reject an objective philosophy, where the concepts of good and bad are universally defined? What’s the difference between Schopenhauer and subjectivist thinkers? Schopenhauer wasn’t a subjectivist. His book “The world as will and representation” (1818) outlines the theory of the will, which sustains that all living entities are driven by a life force (“the will”) to ensure their survival and reproduction. According to Schopenhauer, the will is a wild, irrational and eternal force. The will is objective in the sense that it exists before human consciousness. However, it is also subjective in the sense that it exerts relentless pressure on the thoughts and actions of each individual. Schopenhauer built a philosophy that connects the objective and the subjective, identifying how they interact across time. It is wrong to say that he favoured subjectivity and arbitrariness, or that he encouraged people to elevate their feelings to ethical principles. The comparison with a subjectivist thinker is the best way to present Schopenhauer’s views on the meaning of life; for the comparison, I have chosen the archetypical subjectivist thinker, namely, Emile Coué (1857-1926). Coué belongs to the generation born after Schopenhauer but he inhabited a world that, to a large extent, inherited the ideals and habits from Schopenhauer’s time. Geographically, Coué was not far away from the German- speaking area of Europe. Coué spent most of his life in a town located a few hundred kilometres from the German border. I consider Coué the archetype of the subjectivist thinker due to his experiments in the field of suggestion. He was the first promoter of positive thinking and daily positive affirmations. Schopenhauer was never confronted with ideas exactly like the ones developed by Coué, but was familiar with suggestions and affirmations in Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. If Schopenhauer had met Coué, he wouldn’t have taken him seriously. Why not? Because he never took seriously positive thinking, suggestion and affirmation in religion. Schopenhauer didn’t give credence to theories that appear borderline magical. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/analysis-of-schopenhauers-views-on-the-meaning-of-life/