叔本華的唯意志論與悲觀主義

Schopenhauer’s Voluntarism and Pessimism

叔本華（1788- 1860），德國唯心主義哲學家，唯意志論的主要代表。生於但澤的一個商人家庭，曾入格廷根大學和柏林大學學習，一度在柏林大學任教。他推崇柏拉圖和康德，而對費希特、謝林和黑格爾持輕蔑態度，稱他們是“哲學的空談家”。主要著作有《充足理由律的四重根》和《作為意志和表象的世界》。

叔本華公開提出一套反理性主義的唯心主義思想，認為離開了心靈的感知而獨立存在的物質是沒有的，“世界就是我的表象”，作為表象者的我是第一性的，如果我消滅了，“作為表象的世界也就沒有了”。他還認為自然界只是現象，“意志”才是宇宙的本質。意志是無所根據，沒有規律可循的，整個世界就是由這種盲目的意志支配著。對於生活於其中的每一個人來說，既不能理解它，也不能改變它。叔本華的這種唯意志論在他的學生哈特曼那裡得到了進一步發展。

叔本華還是悲觀主義的著名代表。他認為，意志就是邪惡，苦難是一切生命必不可少的東西，人生如同一場大夢，又象在燃燒著的煤炭鋪成的環形跑道上奔跑。他否認歷史是向前發展的，把歷史說成一團漆黑，認為歷史是永遠無終結的一連串的謀殺、劫奪、陰謀和欺騙。他說：“大多數人的生活不過是求生存的持續的鬥爭，即註定終於要失敗的鬥爭。”他認為，人是性惡的動物，是殘酷的利已主義者，貪婪和欺詐是人成功的唯一途徑。他說：“知識越多， 越悲苦；增長知識的人，是增加了煩惱。”他認為，同情和惻隱之心可以使人從痛苦中得到暫時的解脫；而最好的途徑是象基督教和佛教徒那樣，實行禁慾主義，甚至扼殺生存意志，達到“涅粲”，才能達到真正的解脫。叔本華的唯意志論和悲觀主義對現代西方哲學的許多流派，都有很大的影響。

Schopenhauer and Pessimism

Schopenhauer （1788-1860）， a German idealist philosopher， is the main representative of voluntarism。 Born in Danzig， he was a businessman。 He studied at Gettingen University and Berlin University， and once taught at Berlin University。 He praised Plato and Kant， but despised Fichte， Schelling and Hegel， calling them “philosophical talkers”。 His main works are “The Four Roots of the Law of Sufficient Reason” and “The World as Will and Idea”。

Schopenhauer openly put forward a set of anti rationalistic idealistic thoughts， believing that there is no substance that exists independently without the perception of the mind。 “The world is my image”。 As an image， I am primary。 If I disappear， “the world as an image will disappear”。 He also believes that nature is only a phenomenon， and “will” is the essence of the universe。 Will is groundless and has no rules to follow。 The whole world is dominated by this blind will。 For everyone who lives in it， we can neither understand it nor change it。 Schopenhauer‘s voluntarism was further developed by his student Hartmann。

Schopenhauer is also a famous representative of pessimism。 He believes that will is evil， and suffering is essential to all life。 Life is like a dream， or running on a circular track paved with burning coal。 He denied that history was developing forward， described it as a black mess， and believed that history was a series of murders， robberies， conspiracies and deceits that never ended。 He said： “Most people’s life is just a continuous struggle for survival， that is， a struggle doomed to failure。” He believes that man is a vicious animal and a cruel egotist。 Greed and fraud are the only way for man to succeed。 He said， “The more knowledge you have， the more miserable you will be。 Those who increase knowledge increase their worries。” He believed that sympathy and compassion can make people get temporary relief from pain； The best way is to practice asceticism， even strangle the will to survive， as Christians and Buddhists do， to achieve “nirvana”， and to achieve real liberation。 Schopenhauer‘s voluntarism and pessimism have a great influence on many schools of modern western philosophy。

—Learning Western Culture Bit by Bit