AMONG 19th century philosophers，Arthur Schopenhauer was among the first to contend that at its core，the universe is not a rational place.
Schopenhauer developed an instinct-recognizing and ultimately ascetic outlook，emphasizing that in the face of a world Filled with endless strife，we ought to minimize our natural desires to achieve a more tranquil frame of mind and a disposition towards universal beneficence.
Since his death in 1860，his philosophy has had a special attraction for those who wonder about life's meaning，along with those engaged in music，literature，and the visual arts.
叔本華早年受惠于東方神秘主義哲學，特立獨行，從根本上扭轉r自柏拉圖乃至康德等經典哲學家對世界的認識，見出人生的荒誕與丑怪，盡管我們由此失去了傳統(tǒng)意義上溫馨的、合于理式的宇宙，但叔本華標舉人類所獨有的意志，認為意志獨立于時間與空間，人類只有在音樂、文學、藝術等審美活動才能獲得解脫，這一觀念在很大程度上塑造了尼采、柏格森、托爾斯泰、博爾赫斯等一大批思想家、文學家，直接開啟弗洛伊德精神分析學派，影響所及，雖愛因斯坦、薛定諤等世界一流的物理學家亦不能免。
叔本華屬于一身而兼有思辨與辭采的詩性哲學家，故而其著作在學界和一般大眾中均具有廣泛的讀者。本書選取《人生的智慧》和《論人性》兩部著作，是作者有關人生理論的菁華所在。
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAURER（1788-1860）was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity.At age 25，he published his doctoral dissertation，On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason，which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal world.
Schopenhauer's metaphysical analysis of will，his views on human motivation and desire，and his aphoristic writing style influenced many well-known thinkers including Friedrich Nietzsche，Richard
Wagner，Ludwig Wittgenstein，Erwin Schrodinger，Albert Einstein，Sigmund Freud，Otto Rank，Carl Gustav Jung，Leo Tolstoy，and Jorge Luis Borges.
THE WISDOM OF LIFE
PRELIMINARY
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
ON AUTHORSHIP AND STYLE
ON NOISE
ON READING AND BOOKS
THE EMPTINESS OF EXISTENCE
ON WOMEN
THINKING FOR ONESELF
SHORT DIALOGUE ON THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY
OF OUR TRUE BEING BY DEATH
RELIGION
PSYCHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS
METAPHYSICS OF LOVE
PHYSIOGNOMY
ON SUICIDE
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
HUMAN NATURE
GOVERNMENT
FREE-WILL AND FATALISM
CHARACTER
MORAL INSTINCT
ETHICAL REFLECTIONS
Previously，there had been an obscure point in his knowledge of the world which had arisen through his omitting something in his early education，whether he had been either artificially educated by men or just naturally by his own experience.
Therefore one should try to find out the strictly natural course of knowledge，so that by keeping methodically to it children may become acquainted with the affairs of the world，without getting false ideas into their heads，which frequently cannot be driven out again.In carrying this out，one must next take care that children do not use words with which they connect no clear meaning.Even children have，as a rule，that unhappy tendency of being satisfied with words instead of wishing to understand things，and of learning words by heart，so that they may make use of them when they are in a difficulty.This tendency clings to them afterwards，so that the knowledge of many learned men becomes mere verbosity.
However，the prinapal thing must always be to let one's observations precede one's ideas，and not the reverse as is usually and unfortunately the case;which may be likened to a child coming into the world with its feet foremost，or a thyme begun before thinking of its reason.While the child's mind has made a very few observations one incukates it with ideas and opinions，which are，strictly speaking，prejudices.
His observations and experience are developed through this ready-made apparatus instead of his ideas being developed out of his own observations.In viewing the world one sees many things from many sides，consequently this is not such a short or quick way of learning as that which makes use of abstract ideas，and quickly comes to a decision about everything;therefore preconceived ideas will not be rectified until late，or it may be they are never rectified.For，when a man's view contradicts his ideas.
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