Abstract:
Arthur Schopenhauer is known as the thinker of “philosophical pessimism”. It means, in general lines, the doctrine that presents a certain worldview, but in its more basic sense, it questions the possibility of giving a meaning to the whole of existence: is there “justification” (Rechtfertigung) for the existence? By answering this question the German philosopher develops his “metaphysics of the will” and, as its unfolding, his theory of “redemption” (Erlösung), or soteriology. However, the “philosopher of pessimism” also asserts in his work that there is a “moral ordinance of world” (moralische Weltordnung) and a “moral meaning of existence” (moralische Bedeutung des Daseyns), which seems to go on the opposite direction of what is claimed by the “pessimism”. The present paper analyses the sense of the notions of moral ordinance of world and justification of existence in Schopenhauer’s thought, in order to demonstrate how far moral meaning of life and philosophical pessimismo interact in his thought.
Key-Words:
Arthur Schopenhauer; Metaphysics; Philosophical Pessimism; Moral Ordinance of World; Justification of Existence