Myself), a manuscript shrouded in mystery and controversy whose

strange story goes like this:

Late in his life there gathered around Arthur a very small

circle of enthusiasts, or «evangelists,” whom he tolerated but

neither respected nor liked. These acquaintances often heard him

speak of «About Myself,” an autobiographical journal in which he

had been jotting observations about himself for the previous thirty

years. Yet after his death something strange happened: «About

Myself» was nowhere to be found. After searching in vain,

Schopenhauer`s followers confronted Wilhelm Gwinner, the

executor of Schopenhauer`s will, about the missing document.

Gwinner informed them that «About Myself» no longer existed; as

Schopenhauer had instructed him he had burned it immediately

after his death.

Yet a short time later the same Wilhelm Gwinner wrote the

first biography of Arthur Schopenhauer, and in it Schopenhauer`s

evangelists insisted they recognized sections of the «About

Myself» document either in direct quotes or in paraphrase. Had

Gwinner copied the manuscript before burning it? Or not burned it

all and instead plundered it for use in his biography? Controversy

swirled for decades, and ultimately another Schopenhauer scholar

reconstituted the document from Gwinner`s book and from other

of Schopenhauer`s writings and published the forty–seven–page at the end of the four– volumeNachschlass

(Manuscript Remains). «About Me» is an odd reading experience

because each paragraph is followed by a description of its

Byzantine provenance, often longer than the text itself.

Why was it that Arthur Schopenhauer never had a job? The

story of Arthur`s kamikaze strategy for obtaining a position at the

university is another one of those quirky anecdotes included in

every biographical account of Schopenhauer`s life. In 1820, at the

age of thirty–two, he was offered his first teaching job, a

temporary, very low–salaried position (Privatdozent) to teach

philosophy at the University of Berlin. What did he do but

immediately and deliberately schedule his lecture course (titled

«The Essence of the World») at the exact same hour as the course

offered by Georg Wilhelm Hegel, the departmental chairman and

the most renowned philosopher of the day?

Two hundred eager students crammed into Hegel`s course,

whereas only five came to hear Schopenhauer describe himself as

an avenger who had come to liberate post–Kantian philosophy

from the empty paradoxes and the corrupting and obscure language

of contemporary philosophy. It was no secret that Schopenhauer`s

target was Hegel and Hegel`s predecessor, Fichte (remember, the

philosopher who had begun life as a gooseherd and walked across

all of Europe in order to meet Kant). Obviously, none of this

endeared the young Schopenhauer to Hegel or to the other faculty

members, and when no students at all materialized for

Schopenhauer`s course the following semester his brief and

reckless academic career was over: he never again gave a public

lecture.

In his thirty years at Frankfurt until his death in 1860,

Schopenhauer adhered to a regular daily schedule, almost as

precise as Kant`s daily routine. His day began with three hours of

writing followed by a hour, sometimes two, of playing the flute.

He swam daily in the cold Main River, rarely missing a day even

in the midst of winter. He always lunched at the same club, the

Englisher Hof, dressed in tails and white tie, a costume that was

high fashion in his youth but conspicuously out of style in mid–nineteenth century Frankfurt. It was to his luncheon club that any

curious person wanting to meet the odd and querulous philosopher

would go.

Anecdotes about Schopenhauer at the Englisher Hof abound:

his enormous appetite, often consuming food for two (when

someone remarked upon this, he replied that he also thought for

two), his paying for two lunches to ensure no one sat next to him,

his gruff but penetrating conversation, his frequent outbursts of

temper, his blacklist of individuals to whom he refused to speak,

his tendency to discuss inappropriate shocking topics—for

example, praising the new scientific discovery that allowed him to

avoid venereal infection by dipping his penis after intercourse into

a dilute solution of bleaching powder.

Though he enjoyed serious conversation, he rarely found

dining companions he deemed worthy of his time. For some time,

he regularly placed a gold piece on the table when he sat down and

removed it when he left. One of the military officers that usually

lunched at the same table once asked him about the purpose of this

exercise. Schopenhauer replied that he would donate the gold piece

for the poor the day that he heard officers have a serious

conversation that did not entirely revolve around their horses,

dogs, or women. During his meal he would address his poodle,

Atman, as «You, Sir,” and if Atman misbehaved he redressed him

by calling him «You Human!»

Many anecdotes of his sharp wit are told. Once a diner asked

him a question to which he simply responded, «I don`t know.» The

young man commented, «Well, well, I thought you, a great sage,

knew everything!» Schopenhauer replied, «No, knowledge is

limited, only stupidity is unlimited!» A query to Schopenhauer

from or about women or marriage elicited without fail an acerbic

response. He was once forced to endure the company of a very

talkative woman, who described in detail the misery of her

marriage. He listened patiently, but when she asked if he

understood her, he replied, «No, but I do understand your

husband.»

In another reported exchange he was asked if he would

marry.

«I have no intention to get married because it would only

cause me worries.»

«And why would that would be the case?»

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