Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
A SHORTCUT TO REALITY
“Music is as direct an objectification and copy of the whole will as the world itself, nay, even as the Ideas, whose multiplied manifestation constitutes the world of individual things.”
—Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea
Okay, so it’s not the most inviting quote in the world. But it does sum up Schopenhauer’s philosophy of art fairly well, so let’s take a minute to dissect it. First off, what does he mean by the will? You can think of the will, as Schopenhauer understands it, as the source of all reality, of all truth, action, and being. It is the inner nature of everything we perceive in the world. The perceptions themselves are one way the will is manifested to us.
Schopenhauer adopts a significant portion of Plato’s belief that the things we see around us are but blurred reflections of an ultimate reality that our senses cannot access. However, unlike Plato, Schopenhauer doesn’t even think that the light of reason (the Ideas) can immediately reveal to us the innermost nature of the will. All our concepts and sensations are representations of the will, but only in art do we experience it directly.
Notice the focus on music in the quote. Schopenhauer believes that all art is extraordinary in its ability to bridge our minds with the will, but he especially admires music for its independence from objects and concepts. Somehow, music reveals to us the true nature of ultimate reality in a way that is universal and transcends description. As a philosophical pessimist, Schopenhauer doesn’t believe our needs or desires will ever be satisfied, but he finds consolation in the beauty of art. —CKG
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
• Do you agree that art can capture and communicate reality in ways that thoughts and sensations cannot?
• What sets music apart from other art forms?