Schopenhauer's Philosophy of Religion and his Critique of German Idealism

Abstract

A significant but easily overlooked metaphilosophical theme in Schopenhauer’s corpus concerns the relationship between religion, philosophy, and “man’s need for metaphysics” (WWR II 162). I discuss the importance of this theme, and its attendant methodological commitments, for how we should understand Schopenhauer’s unique approach to global religious and mystical traditions. I demonstrate that explication of this theme provides a coherent, cogent way to identify and evaluate the substantive reasons, often unstated and which may otherwise appear to lack coherence or cogency, that underlie Schopenhauer’s criticism of philosophers associated with the tradition of German Idealism.