The Philosophy of Schopenhauer

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and Clear Analysis of a Difficult Thinker
Review: Just having read Magee's brilliant book about Richard Wagner -- THE TRISTAN CHORD -- I decided to check out his book about my favorite modern phlosopher. I don't have too much to add to what others have said, except to say that if you're not going to take the time to read Schopenhaur, then this is perhaps the best way to become acquainted with his ideas, which still have relevancy almost a century and a half after his death. Just as Schopenhauer was an unusually clear and gifted writer among philosophers, Magee possesses the same qualities as an explicator. Furthermore, his analyses of Schopenhauer's postumous influence really helps contextualize his importance historically (Sigmund Freud, who stole some of his best ideas from Schopenhaur, considered him one of the five greatest men who ever lived. There is also much in Jung -- not to mention Albert Einstein -- that has its origins in Schopenhauer).

Rating:
Summary: The revival of one of the greatest philosophers of all time
Review: Let's face it, over the last few years no one has done more to bring Schopenhauer to the people and back in vogue. From his confessions to the recent book on Wagner, Magee has written one damn readable book after another further exploring the richness that exists in Schopenhauer's worldview. After reading Magee anyone who loves music might find themselves becoming a Schopenhauerian! This volume fits right in, and is a must have for any serious fan of the philosopher or Magee. It's ten times as readable as the Companion series volume, and has far more personal and generally unknown tidbits lurking within. This was a wonderful book to have with me as I entered the Schopenhauer opus, and I've referred to it many times, not least for it's sections on Wittgenstein, Sexuality, and modern literary heirs. That being said, what makes this book so compelling is it's author's deep personal conviction that Transcendental Idealism is the closest thing philosophically to the "truth" (see his Confessions also). Magee seems to think that in it's rush to professional irrelevance PHI didn't pay close enough attention to Kant's central arguments. While I agree with his distaste with much of what academic Philosophy has become, his second implied argument is simply not true. Most philosophers have looked at his arguments and found them wanting. Magee doesn't seem to have spent much time searching out the dissenters, and when he did, he doesn't always seem to have understood them. So, it's a criticism I have that the road he's leading you on through Schopenhauer is seriously flawed, if not outright mistaken. But it's a great, and learned road, so you should take it. I think ultimately Schopenhauer was probably more wrong than right metaphysically, but every one of Magee's books will stay on my shelf till that day we find out (or not) for sure.

Rating:
Summary: Beware: Difficult Read
Review: Perhaps this book explains Schopenhauer with amazing clarity and detail, but I couldn't make it past the first 50 pages. It's just one multi-page paragraph after another. The author needs to learn the concept of whitespace.

The introduction to "Essays and Aphorisms" provides a concise look at Schopenhauer for the casual reader.

Rating:
Summary: Noumenal mysteries, phenomenal books
Review: This engaging account of Schopenhauer is an artful doubleplay and is a fascinating introduction to Schopenhauer and Kant at the same time, with a bird's eye view of the context of modern philosophy starting with Descartes and leading to Hume that is crowned by the sudden flowering of German 'idealism'. Magee's useful mountaineer's guide through the perilous foothills of the Kant Himalayas, capped by Schopenhauer's classic response, is a way to jumpstart a beginning study in this area. Realizing the many influences of Schopenhauer, as Magee points to them, on subsequent artists and philosophers is an invaluable insight into the history of philosophy and culture.