Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was a major German philosopher of the nineteenth century, renowned for his profoundly pessimistic view of existence. He argued that the world is driven by an irrational force he called the Will, the source of desire, suffering, and human dissatisfaction. His main work, The World as Will and Representation, presents a clear-eyed philosophy in which art, compassion, and renunciation offer temporary relief from suffering.