Abstract:
Arthur Schopenhauer was a nineteenth century German philosopher renowned for his
concept of “Will” and his pessimism. Since Schopenhauer wrote his principle work in
1819 some scholars have argued that certain aspects of Schopenhauer’s philosophy
are inconsistent. In my dissertation (“The Antinomy of Suicide with special
consideration of the Schopenhauerian Philosophy) I have focused on one particular
“inconsistency” in Schopenhauer’s philosophy, viz. Schopenhauer’s claim that
although the Will is present in even the most austere ascetics, at the moment of death
it mysteriously dissolves in such an individual. I argue that only if the ascetic perishes
by the ancient Jain practice of Santhara (i.e. suicide by starvation) is the Will
abrogated as a phenomenal entity and caused to reduce in size as a noumenal entity. I
also discuss in great detail why the practice of Santhara ought to be considered the
pinnacle of rationality and morality according to the Schopenhauerian philosophy.
Description:
M.A., Faculty of Humanties, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011.