Arthur Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimistic worldview. He argued that the world is driven by a blind, purposeless force he called the Will — an endless striving that leads to suffering.

His magnum opus, The World as Will and Representation, draws on Kantian philosophy and Eastern thought, particularly Buddhism. He saw art, music, and asceticism as temporary escapes from the tyranny of the Will.